Advice for a first-time controller

Hello all!

I have a bit of a confession to make. I've been playing this game for quite a few years now, and I have never played a controller past level 10. I'm hoping to change that now, though. I just recently rolled up a Elec/Empath as a primarily support character, based simply on the fact that I liked both sets.

When I went to Mids' later, I realized that I had a problem. I want just about every power in both sets, leaving me very tight for slots and for pool powers.

So I turn to you. What should I be aware of a newbie controller? What powers are less valuable or skippable for an Elec/Empath? Have I chosen a terrible combination? Advice, anecdotes, criticisms, all are welcome. Thanks!

Welcome to the best AT in the game. Controllers are more strategic and more interesting than the other ATs. There are NO BAD CONTROLLERS. Some powerset combos may be more effective than others, but none of them are bad. And don't play just one Controller and think you have a handle on the entire AT . . . Controllers are far more varied than other ATs, with substantially different playstyles depending upon your powersets and your playstyle. A Fire/Kin will be fast and frantic in the middle of melee. An Earth/Therm may be controlling and buffing from range from behind the rest of the team. An Illusion/Storm will be making a chaotic mess of everything.

Electric Control is one of the lowest damage control sets. Empathy has no help in that department, either. So you are making a pure team-support type of controllers -- don't expect to solo much until maybe the 40's, and even then, it will be slow. There's no real synergy between Electric Control and Empathy. Both sets are very good at providing benefits for a team, but it will almost be like playing two characters -- an Elec Controller and a (slightly weakened) Empathy Defender. You will be able to have some good control, or you can buff and heal your teammates. While your buffed teammates will benefit from your control by taking less damage, one doesn't really add much to the other.

Compare to, for instance, Elec/Rad. Electric control has four ranged AoE control powers, three of which recharge quickly, and then a PB AoE aura for draining endurance. Rad has ranged debuffs and a PB AoE aura for holding. The two auras together are very powerful. The combination of the ranged controls and the debuffs are very powerful. As a result, an Elec/Rad is better than just Electric Control and Radiation Emission -- there is synergy between the powersets.

For a team-oriented Elec/Emp, I would say that the single-target Immobilize, Electric Fence, is skippable. In low levels, its main use is as a damage power, and you aren't looking to do damage. It can be useful somewhat to immobilize bosses and AVs, but that's not something you need much.

For Empathy, many people skip Absorb Pain. Heal Other is good enough that Absorb Pain isn't needed, and in upper levels heals are not needed as much - your buffs will be far more important.

In general, your control strategy will be to open with Static Field under a group of foes. Then you can use Chain Fences and Jolting Chain as needed, run in with Conductive Aura running to drain the foes of endurance. Synaptic Overload comes later, but that is also a great opener.

I have some good information for the new controller in my Illusion/Radiation Guide (linked in my sig). The first section or two has general information that all Controllers should know about stuff like Containment, the types of controls, understanding Confusion powers, etc. You should probably take a look at the section on Confusion powers, as you will run across uninformed players who don't understand how great Confusion can be and my tell you not to use Synaptic Overload. As long as you know to do some damage to the confused foes, then Confusion powers are awesome. My personal recommendation is usually that Ill/Rad makes a great first controller, but the most important thing is to play a character that is fun to you -- I have several characters who are "less than optimal," but are still a lot of fun to play.

I've been playing a mind/emp controller a lot lately, and I skipped Absorb Pain and Resurrect in Empathy. I skipped Absorb Pain because I already had two heals, and I skipped Resurrect because a good team with a good Empath shouldn't need Resurrect. Also, you can get Revive Ally from the day jobs for the few occasions where defeat is unavoidable.

I've never played the Electric Control set, but from looking at it, I would personally skip Chain Fences, at least at the level it becomes available. Setting off an AOE Immob with minor damage at level 2 is a recipe for disaster in my opinion. Then again, you do have a self heal, so maybe it wouldn't be completely crazy. I wouldn't pick it up until at least the mid to late teens though, if at all.

The single target immobilization power and Absorb Pain are two easy powers to skip. The rez is helpful, but not needed. I don't think Elec needs a lot of slots due to it's recharges being on the lower side, but that's more due to Jolting Chain. It works fine even with just 1 acc in it.