Fire/Kin - Prioritizing Powers on a Fast Moving Team

I just came back for GR, having been away a year or so.

I, a Fire/Kin/Fire (since I dinged last night and took Fireball) got my first recent team last night at 40, with a group of mostly 50's just doing this and that missions in PI.

I was trying to follow what I felt was a logical flow of my role(s), but the pace was so fast I didn't get to one thing before the mobs were dead, or the next ability recycled.

What I would like to know (from veteran players) is what order should I prioritize all my powers for being the most helpful when things are going all nutso. Also, since FS and Transference are based on the number of mobs, I felt like I did not have a good understanding of when to hold off on activating to wait for the right mob count.

Here is a list of what I perceive to be my key powers/roles. I have listed them in order of my guess of team importance.

Fulcrum Shift (but when to hold for next pack?)
Control (Char ST, Fire Cages. Flashfire AE)
Transfusion
Keeping People Speed Boosted*
Transference (if teammates blue bars look sad)
Damage (Recasting Dead Imps, Hotfeet on, Fireballing)
Keeping myself Siphon Speeded
Keeping myself Siphon Powered

*Special Note on Speed Boost: It's a great buff, but people don't seem to care enough any more to sit still to get it, or at least no one seemed to notice if I cast it except one guy.

Should I throw the other things out the window to chase people down to give it to all 7 teammates every time it drops? This sounds like a real life job lol.

Any tips or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Here's how I like to do it on a team . . . but I play my Fire/Kin as a team-oriented character rather than a farmer.

If the team has a decent tank or other teammates running in to draw the aggro, I let them do just that -- pause a sec to let them get the aggro. Then I decide if Flashfire is needed, or if the tank has drawn enough aggro. If no Flashfire is needed, I run in and usually hit Fire Cages unless a teammate has some kind of power that needs knockdown . . . I'm pretty sensative to that, having played quite a few that rely upon knockdown. If needed, I might use Cinders.

As soon as I can and the foes have some kind of control, I hit Fulcrum Shift. Then often a heal. Then check to see if a boss needs to be held with Char, or then Siphon Speed and maybe Siphon Power if the group was small. While I stand in the middle, Hot Feet does its thing. I will selectively use Char, Transfusion, Transference, Fire Cages, and then Air Superiority, my APP attacks and maybe even the Vet attacks to contribute more to Damage.

For the most part, I speed boost the entire team between battles -- once in a while, I'll do it while within the battle if I think it is needed. Speed boosting your team will do more to increase your team's damage than anything other than Fulcrum Shift. ID is only used when needed or if I'm feeling bored or generous.

This is kind of a contentious topic, so be prepared to get the firehose out if it turns into a brawl. Long winded reply alert.

In general, I mentally define a generic battle into four parts: the Stage, the Shock, the Assault, and the Clean Up.

The Stage phase is how you set up the battle before enemies become aware of you. Fire/Kin doesn't have a lot to do here unless this is the first battle of the mission, when you might be Speed Boosting people (this action will later be rolled into the "Clean Up" phase). Staging is a major component of playing Mind, possibly Illusion, and now in some cases Electric. They use this stage to Confuse and possibly sleep enemies who are likely to cause trouble. (This is slightly off topic, but to do this smoothly, I have my Mind and Illusion trollers depart the team during the Clean Up phase so I can scout out the next set of targets. That way the team can cleanly roll directly into a Shock without having to wait).

The Shock phase is the opener that alerts enemies to the team. If there is a Tank, this is usually where he or she usually leaps in and grabs aggro. It is typically one of the highest danger phases of the battle. The Controller's role, as I see it, is to "shock" enemies in such a way that most of them are unable to retaliate (the word "shock" in this sense refers to the war strategy "shock and awe" where you figuratively attempt to paralyze the population of an opponent nation by quickly eliminating its resources). This is in order to minimize the amount of return fire directed at the team. For Fire/Kin, this for me means an immediate Flashfire is in order, if it is available. If it isn't Cinders may be an alternative. On non-Fire/Kin Controllers you may also begin using other powers in an attempt to "shock out" as many enemies as possible while the team proceeds to "knock out." The shock out/knock out relationship forms the bulk of the battle synergy between Controllers and their teammates. Depending on the team the shock can last as little as a few seconds to quite a while.

The Assault is the battle that ensues after the Shock phase. Mentally, I often think of it as the point when the Blaster AoEs are launched (because when I play my Blasters this is when that happens for me). More than likely a few enemies are still running around unchecked. On a Fire/Kin you may not have time to deal with that just yet. Your main concern is raining a barrage of damage down on enemies heads, and the best way to do that in this case is Fulcrum Shift. From there, it becomes a question of what you need to win the battle. Healing, endurance, damage etc, are all at your disposal. There is only thing that IMO you really have to remember: when you are Fire/Kin on a team, you are no longer the superstar. You will still do a lot of damage, and should still attack, but Blasters, Brutes, Scrappers and the like are the team's cannons. (E.g. I have a Scrapper who, hit with Fuclrum Shift, hits for over 1000 points of damage on a critical hit). I only say this because a lot of Fire/Kins decide that since they are such good farmers solo they must be god's gift to damage. The truth is that they hit hard, but surrounded by a team of damage classes, hit MUCH harder.

The Clean Up phase comes at the end of the Assault phase, usually when there are 2 or 3 enemies left over who the team is piling on top of. This is the point when the battle is pretty much won. This is also the time when I advise most buff-Controllers to stop attacking and reapply their buffs. Let the damage classes (who don't have much else to do anyway) clean up the remaining enemies. On a Fire/Kin you can let your pets and damage aura do it too while you apply buffs. Do it even if the buffs are not close to dropping. Ideally you want to minimize the number of times you're forced to reapply during the middle of an Assault phase. Someone earlier said they only give Speed Boost to people struggling for endurance; IMO that is the worst way to use Speed Boosts, for reasons that would take another long post to explain, but again basically because "you are no longer the super star." However, it's not for me to dictate how people use their powers.

Anyway that's my basic strategy. I hope it's helpful.

wut?

lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inno Fulcrum Shift (but when to hold for next pack?) Control (Char ST, Fire Cages. Flashfire AE) Transfusion Keeping People Speed Boosted* Transference (if teammates blue bars look sad) Damage (Recasting Dead Imps, Hotfeet on, Fireballing) Keeping myself Siphon Speeded Keeping myself Siphon Powered

srsly tho, I would flip-flop 1 and 2, and not worry about 7 and 8. That just slows you down doing the other 6 things. I wish I could SB myself tho. *winks*

My order would be;

Speed Boost (always SB everyone on a team, unless they tell you otherwise)
Fulcrum Shift (damage buffs are always welcome)
Control (actually I would do a hold, then a FS)
Siphon Speed (faster you, means faster team buffs)
Damage (Since you cast FS, you might as well get involved in the fun)
Transfusion & Transference as needed.

But it should be noted, not all teams play the same... so adapt.

23X...well said. Pretty much perfectly describes optimal controller team play. Think i'll print that post out and pin it to the wall above my monitor. Bravo

I play mine most like a scrapper in a team (and solo but that's another story). That is I play on the First In, First Out system. I'm generally the first member into the next mob, and I start controlling them as I leap/fly in, normally Flashfire & Fire Cages or Cinders, by the time the tank/melee team members are there I'm ready for the FS, or to heal/END boost (with Transference). And looking around ready for the next mob. Who I normally Smoke to stop early agro.

I use Speed Boost if it is asked for or on those obviously struggling with end issues. Increase Density goes on people who obviously cannot have knockback protection while those who should and don't get laughed at.*

Inertial Density when I need it and if anyone else gets it great.

*Well I do laugh but only in a nice way.

I find it funny to see f/ks on a normal team, since most of them try their solo tactic out and get rolled shortly. I've found that f/k's roll better as soloist since they can play with maps at their pace and not have to worry about something not firing at the right time. Too many times has my FS missed it's target cause of the steamroller teams a nukin them before it can be useful.... I usually lead off with flash fire, then with my normal plan. FS is usually 3rd in line and hardly is any use to me or the team.