All of them are fun.
You need to give us a little more to go on. Controllers are very different depending on the sets. Each Primary offers lots of goodies, and when you mix in the secondaries, you have another whole mix of options. Some are more effective melee, others are more effective at range. Some have high damage, others are weak at damage but good at controlling for a team.
If this is your first controller, I generally recommend an Illusion/Radiation, as it is pretty easy to play an Ill/Rad moderately well. It takes some work to play an Ill/Rad really well. Take a look at my Ill/Rad guide, linked in my sig. My guide gives you some core information about Controllers in general, tells you about the powers, recommends a leveling up build, and has a bunch of level 50 builds.
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
While an ill/ is fun for you, last night I was on a team with three ill/ controllers, and I was a scrapper...and we were in caves. Can you say "pet wall?"
While not giggling with fun, /Rad is a great set. Storm is fun, but some of the powers are real turkeys, but that does leave you open to take other fun powers from the pools. Vengeance is fun.
As far as primaries go, for my fun, definately ill/ or fire/. What I appreciate on a team, making my job as a scrapper better [I mostly play scrapper or controller], is stone/. Though the sound, ah, I wear good headphones while I play and stone's powers are deafening.
Ill/Storm is the most chaotic fun I've had on a troller, though given it's messy nature it isn't for everyone.
One of the best team management combos is Ice/Kin, and Frosty' aggressive nature does add some minor levity.
If you want to have the best experience as far as real control, I suggest either Mind or Plant. Both are very much about controlling as well as having viable damage capabilities. I'd also recommend trying Earth or Ice if you want to lean more toward mostly controlling. If you want damage go with Fire or Illusion. Gravity is the mixed bag.
Grav/Storm with Team Teleport. You can easily assure that you're the only person on your team having fun.
The combination of wormhole and team tp will let you hot drop your team onto a group of enemies then teleport the enemies away. It'll be amazing 
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You forgot to use the /sarcasm tag . . . |
Originally Posted by m3lon
Grav/Storm with Team Teleport. You can easily assure that you're the only person on your team having fun.
The combination of wormhole and team tp will let you hot drop your team onto a group of enemies then teleport the enemies away. It'll be amazing |
My Grav/Storm is a lot of fun for solo play, but not exactly the best team 'troller.
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
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In my experience, Earth is the best AoE controller for teams but low on damage. Works great with Rad, TA, Storm, Therm. Earth/TA has more AoE control than than any other controller.|
Originally Posted by Icecx
If you want to have the best experience as far as real control, I suggest either Mind or Plant. Both are very much about controlling as well as having viable damage capabilities. I'd also recommend trying Earth or Ice if you want to lean more toward mostly controlling. If you want damage go with Fire or Illusion. Gravity is the mixed bag.
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Ice is great for supporting melee characters, but lags behind Earth for ranged AoE control. Ice is also low damage. Rad, Storm, Kin.
Fire is the best for AoE damage, but you need to be melee. Kin, Rad, then maybe Storm, Therm
Plant is a nice mix of ranged AoE control and damage, but somewhat limited by relying so heavily on Seeds of Confusion. Rad, Kin, Storm, Therm, maybe Cold
Illusion controls with distraction rather than hard controls, but has good single target damage. Pair with anything, but especially Rad, Storm, TA, Cold, then maybe Kin, Therm
Grav has good single target damage, but is weak on AoE control. Has three unique powers . . . good solo with the right secondary. I like my Grav/Storm, but never could pair it with anything else. Others like Rad, Kin, Therm, Cold, and even TA and FF.
Mind -- truthfully, it is my least favorite primary. It has great single target damage in low levels, and great AoE control in upper levels. However, the lack of a pet makes this very tough to solo in high levels. I have a Mind/FF and Mind/Storm, but it can also pair with Rad (Everything goes with Rad), TA, Kin, Therm, Cold. Mind has strong control, and really doesn't need much from the secondary.
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
gotta give Plant and Illusion a +1 for this. Plant more so. my Plant/Storm was the most fun ride to 50 I've experienced on a controller. Open with seeds, then roots, freezing rain, Lightning storm, Tornado, reapply roots to keep them locked down... the 'controlled chaos™' you can create always put a smile on me dial. 
Storm does take a little practice though, but once you got it down, you're golden!
Combat Kangaroos, Justice Server. First 50's
Jirra Roo Plant/Storm/Stone/Musculature Controller
Combat Kangaroo Rifle/Energy/Mace/Spiritual Blaster
Kung Fu Kangaroo Martial Arts/Reflexes/Body/Spiritual Scrapper
Tribal Arc Shield/Elec/Mu/Spiritual Tanker
As has been said, all of the control sets play very very differently from each other. There's a lot of useful information already posted in the thread. I'll try to contribute what I can.
I tend to divide the sets into 3 broad, relatively inexact categories: Elemental-Debuff, Elemental-Damage, and Psionic-Setup.
There are 2 power sets in the Elemental-Debuff category: Ice and Earth. Each ones delivers low damage on its own and is extremely reliant on its pet. However, both sets get reliable Containment from elemental cages, and most of their powers carry with them a relatively enormous debuff (-Recharge for Ice and -Defense for Earth). Both also count among their powers a pulsing knockdown control. They also get the most "communicative" of the hold powers, as the graphic is very noticeable to you and teammates. Differences between the sets are:
- ICE's secondary effect has more direct effect on safety. However Ice has no good powers that are suitable for opening a fight, with the exception of Ice Slick (which I slot for Range). The only AoE status effects available also require wading within 25 feet of enemies (often described, rather inaccurately, as "melee range.") It is very good in a sustained fight but usually contributes less to quick battles. IMO Ice Control is the hardest set to IO at high levels by a huge margin. While effective, I consider this an "advanced" set for people who have some experience with the game. This is probably the best set for dealing with enemies with large amounts of mezz resistance or lots of "boss" (not elite boss or AV) enemies, but one of the worst to put on a team that is already very heavy on control. Key powers: Ice Slick, Arctic Air (for me), Jack Frost.
- EARTH's secondary effect is generally less useful at higher levels, outside of specific scenarios (though never useless). However it has one of the best AoE openers in any set (Stalagmites), and has a number of placeable powers that can be cast from behind walls. At least one Earth power restricts flight. The Earth pet is the best of the level 32 pets out there due to its huge resistance values, and is actually probably better than most Mastermind pets with the exception of the fact that you can't command it directly. Key powers: Stalagmites, Earthquake, Volcanic Gasses, Animate Stone.
The Elemental-Damage group has three sets: Fire, Plant, and (arguably--more on this below) Gravity. These sets have a damage edge over and above other sets. All three have reliable Containment, and damage that is at least good enough to solo on (compared to the Elemental-Debuff group).
- FIRE trades control abilities for direct damage. It gets fairly standard controls like holds and immobs, and a nice fast recharging ranged Stun in Flashfire. However, Fire Control's main game is really the damage, which comes from the powers Hot Feet and Fire Imps. It is also probably the least flexible of the control sets, offering only 3 status effects (immob, hold, stun) all of which can be cancelled by powers like Dispersion Bubble. The pets deliver a lot of damage, but are also aggro-monkeys notorious for pulling more than you intend. Overall a great set, but not without its tradeoffs. Key powers: Flashfire, Hot Feet, Fire Imps.
- PLANT is nearly smack in the middle in terms of the control sets. It does somewhat less direct damage than Fire but makes up for it with better controls overall. Its fast recharging Seeds of Confusion power is one of the best in the game. Plant even gets an invulnerable pet of sorts (Carrion Creepers) sealing it as the set that blends the most from other sets. However, it has no secondary effects at all, and only works on enemies that are grounded. Key powers: Roots (x2 normal damage of other AoE immobs), Seeds of Confusion, Carrion Creepers.
- GRAVITY, although I've put it in the category of "Elemental Damage" technically straddles the line into an "Elemental Debuff," both in the sense of offering debuffs and its lowered damage. It gets two direct damage attacks, but neither is particularly good. Its debuff (-Speed) is also not that useful because you can immobilize most enemies anyway. It has no good fast recharging AoE controls, no good AoE damage powers, and single target attacks that are either very slow or less damaging than similar powers in other sets. What it does have is a pretty good (but unhealable) pet and a teleport-foe power that is more "interesting" than "reliably useful." I rate this as the weakest control set by several leagues. It is in need of deep improvements before I'd recommend it, unless you simply like the challenge or the concept. Key powers: Wormhole, Singularity.
The Psionic-Setup group consists of the final two Control sets: Illusion and Mind. Both have access to an extremely powerful single target Confuse power that lets them set up the battlefield before alerting enemies. Other powers in these sets also stress setting up the field to your advantage before launching your alpha attack. However, neither set has AoE immobilizers for AoE Containment.
- ILLUSION carries the Controller AT heavily toward the flavor of Mastermind. It trades AoE control for extra pets and the ability to essentially serve as a tank. In this case the pets are solid (in fact, invulnerable) performers. Like a Mastermind, Illusion works great solo and some of the best combos can solo AVs. However, this independence does not necessarily translate into amazing performance on a team, where handling hordes of enemies is often required. In particular, it can struggle with large ambushes relative to other sets. A few powers in Illusion Control bypass ranged defense. Key powers: Phantom Army, Spectral Terror, Deceive, Phantasm.
- MIND is both the sister set and the polar opposite of Illusion. It does great single target damage compared to other sets. However, it both lacks a pet and reliable Containment, meaning fighting elite bosses and AVs is extremely challenging. By trading out the pet it gets an extra AoE control, which is an asset on a team but possibly a pain solo. Mind boasts 4 good AoE mezzes, but two of them let enemies shoot back at you and the remaining two are on rather long (240 second) recharges. All powers in Mind Control bypass Ranged defense. Key powers: Confuse, Mass Confusion, Terrify, Mass Hypnosis.
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my favorite team controller is a grav/trick arrow.|
Originally Posted by B-Baller44
please give me some fun ideas for a troller
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I'd never a million years try to solo him, but on a team he's ridiculously fun.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
Gravity/Storm is the most FUN controller I have played. Others are more effective, but handled correctly, it's capable, very fun and a sfx lightshow.
@SBeaudway on Pinnacle, TaskForce Titans Supergroup.
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Plant/Rad. Starts out strong, great fun on teams with amazing visuals and easy to thematically link (Radiation mutating plants into these fearmore creatures).
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Originally Posted by B-Baller44
please give me some fun ideas for a troller
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I must say that I somewhat disagree with this. Illusion is a decent teaming set if you don't bring Phantasm out except during AV fights. AoE knockback in Phantasm will decrease overall team AoE DPS by a non-trivial margin (also solo damage when doing X/4+ and using AoE damage from secondary, Epic Pool) and annoy melee types. Personally, I no longer consider Phantasm a key power in the set for this reason and only bring him out situationally (rarely). Spectral Terror is one of the best soft-control powers available in any control set. Just wait till mobs are grouped up fairly tightly before using it. I also think Illusion is one of the better control sets when leveled down to level 10-20ish range. Invis, Deceive, Flash, Blind can carry the day in many situations especially when doing low level task forces. People seem to like hating on Flash or recommend taking it late in the build (both of which I strongly disagree), but when slotted well and on a set with high recharge, I find it's increased radius to be invaluable. Personally, I'd make Flash a critical power before Phantasm. Also, Phantom Army's intended purpose is to be distraction-based control and when used in that capacity it is a very team friendly power. When not-herding, consider moving on to the next group while your team is finishing up the last group, and cast Phantom Army in the middle of the next group before your team gets there to soak up all the alpha strikes and gather all the initial aggro. This is particularly effective when fighting unusually difficult foes or using a scrapper as main tank. Or try that technique when fighting two groups of foes close together where you don't want aggro from the other group, but will probably get it. Phantom Army can make your team's life much easier when used with care.
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Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex
- ILLUSION carries the Controller AT heavily toward the flavor of Mastermind. It trades AoE control for extra pets and the ability to essentially serve as a tank. In this case the pets are solid (in fact, invulnerable) performers. Like a Mastermind, Illusion works great solo and some of the best combos can solo AVs. However, this independence does not necessarily translate into amazing performance on a team, where handling hordes of enemies is often required. In particular, it can struggle with large ambushes relative to other sets. A few powers in Illusion Control bypass ranged defense. Key powers: Phantom Army, Spectral Terror, Deceive, Phantasm.
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I found Fire Control to be extremely effective and fun. Flashfire was the key power for me, and is one of my favorite powers in the entire game. I paired Fire Control with Storm Summoning, but I imagine some of the other secondaries are just as effective and fun. Fire Imps ultimately unbalances the set, imo, but in a way that most people enjoy: They make Fire Controllers night-unstoppable engines of destruction. From an objective, game-design perspective, I thought Fire Imps were too good (I played this Controller a couple of years ago) but from a subjective, player perspective they were fun as Heck.
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Phantasm can be a problem only if you spend a lot of time in melee or close range. If you stay back from the group, then Phanty tends to knock foes back into the group. In fact, he becomes an effective positioning tool. And even if he does knock back a foe or two, you can either use Deceive to have that foe or two rejoin his buddies or decide to take that foe down with your Blind-SW-Blast-SW attack chain. The added damage that Phanty brings, combined with the added distraction of his decoy and his "body guard" behavior of knocking foes away from you, makes him an important part of an Illusionist's tools. I almost never put Phantasm away during team play.|
Originally Posted by Dr_Dismemberment
I must say that I somewhat disagree with this. Illusion is a decent teaming set if you don't bring Phantasm out except during AV fights. AoE knockback in Phantasm will decrease team overall team AoE DPS by a non-trivial margin (also solo damage when doing X/4+ and using AoE damage from secondary, Epic Pool) and annoy melee types. Personally, I no longer consider Phantasm a key power in the set for this reason and only bring him out situationally (rarely). Spectral Terror is one of the best soft-control powers available in any control set. Just wait till mobs are grouped up fairly tightly before using it. I also think Illusion is one of the better control sets when leveled down to level 10-20ish range. Invis, Deceive, Flash, Blind can carry the day in many situations especially when doing low level task forces. People seem to like hating on Flash or recommend taking it late in the build (both of which I strongly disagree), but when slotted well and on a set with high recharge, I find it's increased radius to be invaluable. Personally, I'd make Flash a critical power before Phantasm. Also, Phantom Army's intended purpose is to be distraction-based control and when used in that capacity it is a very team friendly power. When not-herding, consider moving on to the next group while your team is finishing up the last group, and cast Phantom Army in the middle of the next group before your team gets there to soak up all the alpha strikes and gather all the initial aggro. This is particularly effective when fighting unusually difficult foes. Or try that technique when fighting two groups of foes close together where you don't want aggro from the other group, but will probably get it. Phantom Army can make your team's life much easier when used with care.
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Because I mostly stay out of melee, Flash is less useful. On characters who do not have Perma-PA, Flash becomes a valuable fill-in control while PA is recharging. However, I have learned when and how to use it while avoiding the knockback problems from Phanty -- understanding Phanty's attack cycle makes it simple to run in and hit Flash before Phanty can react.
I agree with some of your suggestions on strategy with PA . . . A good tank can recognize the value of PA taking the Alpha and pause long enough to let them do the job. Or, as you said, PA can act as a second tank to draw the aggro of a nearby group.
I, also, disagree with Oedipus_Tex's assessment of Illusion's ability to help on a team. Illusion is wonderful on teams, and can go all out. Between PA and Spectral Terror, sprinkled in with a little Flash when needed, Illusion does a great job an handling large groups. Illusion does at least as well with add-ins as a Plant controller . . . once Seeds has been used, Plant's options are limited.
In fact, one of the best parts of Illusion on teams is that Illusion's controls rarely conflict with the controls of other controllers. On an Earth or Ice controller, how often have you had a Fire Controller use Fire Cages to stop the knockdown of Earthquake or Ice Slick? Ever played a Grav Controller and have somebody else place a location-AoE control just as you fired up Wormhole? Illusion doesn't have that problem -- it works well with all other controllers most of the time.
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
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Even on a Illusionist that doesn't stay in melee range typically, Spectral Terror then run in for Flash is incredibly safe. I'd use it every time I can when it is up. It is more than worth it for the containment and extra safety for the group. I have a hard time imagining any Illusionist that would find Flash anything but extremely useful unless they were purposefully trying to be inefficient. Containment is just plain wonderful and not trying to maximize its effects seems silly. Flash is useful even for Illusionist's with gobs of global recharge and Perma-PA (I can attest to this -- my Ill/FF is pimped). It is Phantasm that is the problem. Having to adjust your entire game play around annoying quirks of an uncontrollable and stupid pet who just happens to use the most annoying powers (knockback) just isn't in my interest. I say bring it out for extra single target DPS when you have a difficult single target where it can be useful, and dispose of it the rest of the time. The decoys it makes are nice, but not worth the other issues it brings to the table -- at least in my opinion. Phantasm is a good power to have up all the time when soloing while leveling. But after that, you really should be discriminating about its uses. As an experiment, about a week ago I timed myself doing 0/8 and 2/8 Battle Maiden AE missions, and my time to finish improved in both cases when I failed to bring out Phantasm.
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Originally Posted by Local_Man
Because I mostly stay out of melee, Flash is less useful. On characters who do not have Perma-PA, Flash becomes a valuable fill-in control while PA is recharging. However, I have learned when and how to use it while avoiding the knockback problems from Phanty -- understanding Phanty's attack cycle makes it simple to run in and hit Flash before Phanty can react.
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If I have just used Spectral Terror, then I don't need to run in and use Flash -- the foes are already under control and my teammates are already safe. (There are a few exceptions, granted.) Besides, most of the time I use Flash is as an Alpha, so I'm invisible before the Flashy Thing goes off -- I don't need to worry about personal safety.|
Originally Posted by Dr_Dismemberment
Even on a Illusionist that doesn't stay in melee range typically, Spectral Terror then run in for Flash is incredibly safe. I'd use it every time I can when it is up. It is more than worth it for the containment and extra safety for the group. I have a hard time imagining any Illusionist that would find Flash anything but extremely useful unless they were purposefully trying to be inefficient. Flash is useful even for Illusionist's with gobs of refresh and Perma-PA. It is Phantasm that is the problem. Having to adjust your entire game play around annoying quirks of an uncontrollable and stupid pet who just happens to use the most annoying powers (knockback) just isn't in my interest. I say bring it out for extra single target DPS when you have a difficult single target where it can be useful, and dispose of it the rest of the time. The decoys it makes are nice, but not worth the other issues it brings to the table -- at least in my opinion.
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So the only reason to use Flash in the situation you described is to set up AoE containment. Illusion itself doesn't have any AoE Damage powers, so the only time you can benefit from containment on the AoE hold is when you can use an AoE damage power from the APP sets. With his single target blast and cone torrent, I bet that Phantasm probably does more damage overall than Containment from that AoE damage power (at best, half of the AoE damage power's overall damage, but in reality far less because the AoE damage power recharges faster than the AoE Hold). Plus, the decoy provides more distraction and some spectral damage.
I would say that not having to run in and out of melee is more efficient than what you describe. Not only that, but the time you spend casting Spectral Terror, then running into melee, firing off Flash, and then running out, I can spend attacking. The damage from Phantasm is significant, and I don't find his knockback to be a problem. My guess is that you hate his knockback and have developed a playstyle to avoid using Phanty. I like knockback as a form of control and my playstyle keeps Phanty away from the AoE crowds to avoid irritating my teammates (most of the time).
Most folks find Flash to the the second most skippable power in Illusion after one of the invisibilities. I have it on my Ill/Rads and Ill/Kin, but I skipped it on my Ill/TA (who has EM Pulse Arrow and Oil Slick Arrow, and is never in melee) and my Ill/Storm (who uses Thunderclap -- only Mag 2 but it recharges much faster).
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
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Skipping Flash if it is redundant because of secondary powers makes sense, otherwise I'd still think it would be crazy to skip it.|
Originally Posted by Local_Man
Most folks find Flash to the the second most skippable power in Illusion after one of the invisibilities. I have it on my Ill/Rads and Ill/Kin, but I skipped it on my Ill/TA (who has EM Pulse Arrow and Oil Slick Arrow, and is never in melee) and my Ill/Storm (who uses Thunderclap -- only Mag 2 but it recharges much faster).
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"Most folks" in the USA believe in angels too. That doesn't make the statement more credible.
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Originally Posted by Local_Man
My guess is that you hate his knockback and have developed a playstyle to avoid using Phanty. I like knockback as a form of control and my playstyle keeps Phanty away from the AoE crowds to avoid irritating my teammates (most of the time).
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I believe in angles . . . triangles, quadrangles . . . (I think you mean Angels).|
Originally Posted by Dr_Dismemberment
Skipping Flash if it is redundant because of secondary powers makes sense, otherwise I'd still think it would be crazy to skip it. Even if it is redundant, I think I could demonstrate better overall DPS if you took Flash as well (assuming you had the APP AoE skill and good global recharge).
"Most folks" in the USA believe in angles too. That doesn't make the statement more credible. |
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| That is almost certainly true, since my APP is stone -- I love Fissure. I'm virtually always in melee range. Even when I used to play my other Illusionist, I didn't find hopping into the fray for 3 seconds particularly dangerous -- with or without Spectral Terror or particularly bad for my overall DPS but I still found Phanty's knockback to be annoying. |
I don't even try to farm with my build . . . that's not what it is built for since other builds are much better at farming. My build is an all purpose build that is effective at taking down AV's solo, and equally good at contributing to teams with a mix of control, debuffing/buffing and blasting. I tend to go more for higher difficulty on fewer foes.
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
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Thanks for catching that, yes I did. Corrected.|
Originally Posted by Local_Man
(I think you mean Angels).
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Originally Posted by Local_Man
I suspected that you had Fissure . . . which means that you do not have the lovely Blind-SW-Blast-SW attack chain that maximizes the benefits of Spectral Damage, and all from range. Hurl Boulder is just too slow. I use Fire Blast and Fireball. I don't know if one build can out "DPS" the other, but I know that my Fire Blast/Fireball build is very flexible, and does a great job doing a lot of damage on single targets, while having decent AoE damage. I suspect that my build takes down single targets quite a bit faster than yours. And since I stay out of melee range, Phantasm contributes a great deal to my damage without being a knockback problem. Phanty contributes control as well as damage with his decoy and knockback. With a ranged build, Flash becomes a nice luxury, but not a necessity.
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Blind-SW-Seismic-SW-Fissure
which is even more lovely and sometimes I throw in a Sands of Mu or Blackwand if I'm waiting for things to come up.
Also, when doing AoE damage by alternating Fissure and Repulsion Bomb the mobs are kept knocked down and disoriented so much of the time, they do almost no damage. The damage mitigation against large groups is amazingly good. Not as good as earthquake for mitigation but it does much more damage. I really like this for a controller since we are all about damage mitigation. I could spec for ranged damage, but I think I'd be adding much less overall benefit to the group. Also, being in melee range helps Dispersion Bubble hit more targets.
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Originally Posted by Dr_Dismemberment
I must say that I somewhat disagree with this. Illusion is a decent teaming set if you don't bring Phantasm out except during AV fights. AoE knockback in Phantasm will decrease overall team AoE DPS by a non-trivial margin (also solo damage when doing X/4+ and using AoE damage from secondary, Epic Pool) and annoy melee types. Personally, I no longer consider Phantasm a key power in the set for this reason and only bring him out situationally (rarely). Spectral Terror is one of the best soft-control powers available in any control set. Just wait till mobs are grouped up fairly tightly before using it. I also think Illusion is one of the better control sets when leveled down to level 10-20ish range. Invis, Deceive, Flash, Blind can carry the day in many situations especially when doing low level task forces. People seem to like hating on Flash or recommend taking it late in the build (both of which I strongly disagree), but when slotted well and on a set with high recharge, I find it's increased radius to be invaluable. Personally, I'd make Flash a critical power before Phantasm. Also, Phantom Army's intended purpose is to be distraction-based control and when used in that capacity it is a very team friendly power. When not-herding, consider moving on to the next group while your team is finishing up the last group, and cast Phantom Army in the middle of the next group before your team gets there to soak up all the alpha strikes and gather all the initial aggro. This is particularly effective when fighting unusually difficult foes or using a scrapper as main tank. Or try that technique when fighting two groups of foes close together where you don't want aggro from the other group, but will probably get it. Phantom Army can make your team's life much easier when used with care.
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To each his own. Like I sometimes say, the best I can offer is my opinion. I don't disagree with you that Illusion is a good teaming set. I do think, however, that it is often assumed to be stronger than it really is because of how well it performs solo. Like I said previously, Illusion excels at the same things Masterminds tend to. It can solo AVs on its own. Whether it protects a team of 8 against a group of 16 enemies is a different question for me, and the answer to for me is "kind of but other sets do it better." Which, given how strong Illusion is, is probably a good thing or else the devs would be chasing it down with a nerf bat. Specifically, as I said in my original statement, it struggles with ambushes precisely because of what you have just described: you need to get the drop on enemies. If you don't and they come chasing after your team, you don't have a good way to halt the group in its tracks like another Controller would.
I will say that that neither Flash nor Blind really changes my evaluation of what I originally said about Illusion (that it sacrifices control to add pets). Both are standard powers available to all Controllers. The "extra range" in Flash, 30ft, is exactly the same as what other PBAoE holds get.
As for Spectral Terror being good soft control, the answer is, it depends. This power is more or less duplicated by Mind Control's Terrify power, but Mind Control has an additional 2 AoEs over and above Illusion (and the ranged version of the standard Controller AoE hold which we've already said everyone gets some flavor of). That's not counting Telekinesis, which is a power I find hard to classify. Fear is better than nothing but its mechanics, which allow enemies to fire back when struck, make it more problematic than it may first appear. It's certainly not bad but its definitely not a stun, hold, confusion, knockdown, and what is available to other sets.
In fact, Illusion Control--let's say Ill/Rad--is operationally very similar to a Bots/Dark Mastermind. The heal, fear, -tohit, and such are all there. So is the ability to serve as a tank and to solo AVs. I would never argue such a character isn't good or fun, but I would say their strength isn't controlling large groups, if Earth, Mind, and Ice Control are the points of measurement.
As far as a teaming controller goes, I'd say in my opinion Earth/Mind, which offers some good strong holds, confuses, knockdowns, etc. etc. As far as secondary, since you'll be teaming alot Empathy or Force Field would always be my #1 choice, but it all depends on your playstyle
Illusion is very fun, but just not as much "control" as the other sets give you, otherwise it's a very fun set
please give me some fun ideas for a troller