Pure control

Almost every controllers I've played end up with some sort of damage attack chain. I do however have a couple slotted purely for control (Earth/Rad and Mind/Emp). It's actually more rewarding than most players might think. Granted, I have a bad time soloing, but I can pretty much lockdown entire spawns for ridiculous amounts of time - even without betting much on recharge.

Recently I've moved to Virtue server and since I'm not willing to pay or wait months for server transfers, I'm going to build my toons from scratch.

So, I'm trying to figure which combos I'd like to try for pure control. I don't care for damage even if it makes a single radio mission look like the whole Dr Quaterfield saga.

That said, I'm looking for suggestions based on your own experiences. A few combos come to mind in a heartbeat such as Earth/Storm, Earth/TA or Mind/TA.

I'll admit /TA never caught my attention, but since my goal is pure control, it really becomes a valid option.

The three examples you give are all great. I have an Earth/TA and it's hands down the most control I've ever experienced in the game. It's a beast.

Wait for earth/time.

I have both Earth/Rad and Earth/Storm at 50. Both are great fun, but the Earth/Storm can do quite a bit more damage and has better self protection (Hurricane).

In addition to Earth/Time, another you could consider is Earth, Elec or Ice/Cold. As a Secondary, Cold is very powerful but late blooming. The two best powers, Sleet (basicly the same as Freezing Rain) and Heat Loss come at 35 and 38. However, the Ice Shields are always welcome, the single-target debuffs let you take down those tough foes more quickly (great on AVs), and you get Snow Storm and a clone of Steamy Mist.

I have an Ill/Cold at 50, but I bet an Earth/Cold would be pretty awesome. There are a couple of folks on the forums who are very fond of Elec/Cold -- I'm not all that impressed with Electric since it has many conflicts with other controller sets. I like Ice quite a bit . . . mine is an Ice/Storm, but I play Ice in melee and he does take some damage. (Arctic Air, once you add the Contagious Confusion proc, is great.)

I'll give my nod to Earth/TA with an APP of primal. You have the ability to lock down entire boss spawns long enough for most teams to completely eliminate them.

If you enjoy melee range controlling I'd give Ice/Rad an honorable mention. Slotting Artic Air with a contagious confusion proc, and Choking Cloud with a lock down proc, make an Ice/Rad a monster.

Edit - Doh forgot to mention Grav Anchor proc in Frostbite.....

Earth is defiantly the most control oriented control set, with mind playing a close but very different second. TA has the most control in a secondary, with cold and storm having less but once again very different control. Time will be good control, and when traps enviably comes it will also provide good control.

I'll give Earth/TA a shot. I have both Earth/Rad and /Storm at 50 and still can't get enough of the primary. It's too good.

Thanks for the suggestions.

My latest pet project is a mind/ta and although I have her slotted for damage and solo play the set would make a great "control only" set. You have three hard lockdowns (mass confusion, total domination and emp arrow) and the two soft controls (terrify and mass hypnosis). Chuck in glue arrow, oil slick arrow and even telekinesis and you have a pretty safe character

Ice/Radiation is an insane combo. Insane in the sense that its probably not the most effective combo ever, has mediocre to low damage, isn't all that popular, but is incredibly (IMO, of course) fun to play. You have no long range mezzes at your disposal. Some see this as a weakness. I see it as an excuse to be insane and run up on top of enemies, and, shock of shocks, if you play well most of the time you will survive. You will also hinder enemies a great deal. And if you get good enough at it, your teammates might start to refer to you as "that crazed Tanker Controller" like they sometimes do me, because I am constantly racing ahead of the group and waiting for them in a green cloud of confused, knocked down, and debuffed enemies for them to obliterate.

Earth/Radiation probably has better "pure control," and Fire/Rad definitely has better damage, but from a unique gameplay perspective Ice/Rad didn't let me down at all.

I have an Earth/TA troller at 50 and let me say, it was the longest struggle to get to 50. However, it is truly a great toon to team with. Unfortunately my play time is often limited by needing to go AFK a lot, so I tend to solo. Fortunately I'm able to team with my hubby often enough that I was able to move her along.

So, I'd say another vote for Earth/TA (although I think you already did that, so my vote is kinda pointless )

I have an Earth/TA in the mid 40s and I specifically built her debuffing large groups since she has so many AoE debuffs. The plus side is that she is a great force magnifier for large teams. The downside is that she needs large spawns that don't get knocked apart for her to really be effective. I never solo her.

Mind is always an excellent option if you're looking for pure control. You will have holds, sleeps, a confuse, and a repel, giving you a more varied experience that doesn't get as monotonous as some other control primaries. I have a 50 Mind/Kin who is very capable of holding large/multiple groups for long periods of time. The Siphon Speed helps with my recharge and Transference keeps me able to chain cast without running out of endurance.

Mind/Time!

Everyone picks Earth/*, so I'll pick Electric/Time - 2 great pbaoe toggles, several location drops, several holds.

It should be a control beast.

Wouldn't Earth/Poison or Ice/Poison be a control beast now, too, with the changes to the Poison secondary?

Gravity/Time is providing me with insane control currently.

I can lockdown entire groups in seconds. I have skipped stuff like Propel/Lift ofc, but the control from Gravity seems incredibly strong.

I can recommend Ice/Time, also.

Ice/Rad

You'd be surprised how much control that combination has, but includes major debuff capabilites.

Your dps will be garbage, but the control is amazing.

Stacking arctic air with choking cloud allows you to passively hold many mobs. Put a lock down proc for +mag 2 hold in choking cloud and you can hold even bosses, passively.

Anything that is your circle of control can easily be locked down with a single activation of any control power. Furthermore you can place contagious confusion proc in arctic air to spread around confusion, with arctic air's inherent confusion, much more easily

Or you can even put a -recharge proc in arctic air and stack even more -recharge debuffs which stack with pretty much all the recharge debuffs from most ice powers and even some of the rad powers.

Seriously try out this combination if you want a pure control build for your controller.

Made an Ice/Rad build just for the heck of it. It definitely needs cardiac since you use so many toggles in it (Though if you don't want to go that route you can change the slotting to be more endurance friendly)

Either way this build should throw down a lot of control and a lot of debuffing cability.


Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.942
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Level 50 Technology Controller
Primary Power Set: Ice Control
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Teleportation
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Chilblain -- Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Decim-Acc/Dmg(43), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(45), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(45)
Level 1: Radiant Aura -- Dct'dW-Heal(A), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(42), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(43), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(43)
Level 2: Block of Ice -- BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Hold(3), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(3), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(40)
Level 4: Accelerate Metabolism -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 6: Arctic Air -- P'ngTtl-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(A), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(7), ImpSwft-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(7), CtlSpd-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(15), P'ngTtl--Rchg%(17), CoPers-Conf%(17)
Level 8: Radiation Infection -- DarkWD-Slow%(A), Achilles-ResDeb%(9), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(9), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(13), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(13), UndDef-DefDeb/EndRdx(15)
Level 10: Enervating Field -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(11), EndRdx-I(11)
Level 12: Frostbite -- Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Posi-Acc/Dmg(36), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(37), Posi-Dmg/Rng(37)
Level 14: Shiver -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(19), Slow-I(21)
Level 16: Ice Slick -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Flash Freeze -- Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Posi-Acc/Dmg(19), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(34), Posi-Dmg/Rng(34)
Level 20: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(21), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 22: Lingering Radiation -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(23), RechRdx-I(23), RechRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(25)
Level 24: Recall Friend -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 26: Glacier -- BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(27), BasGaze-Acc/Hold(27), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(33), Lock-%Hold(33), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(46)
Level 28: Choking Cloud -- BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(29), BasGaze-Acc/Hold(29), BasGaze-Slow%(31), EndRdx-I(31), EndRdx-I(31)
Level 30: Teleport -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 32: Jack Frost -- C'Arms-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(A), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg(36), C'Arms-Acc/Rchg(36)
Level 35: Fallout -- Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Posi-Acc/Dmg(39), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(39), Posi-Dmg/Rng(40)
Level 38: Stealth -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), HO:Enzym(46), HO:Enzym(46)
Level 41: Grant Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 44: Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 47: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), HO:Enzym(48), HO:Enzym(48)
Level 49: Scorpion Shield -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), EndRdx-I(50)
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 50: Cardiac Boost
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- T'Death-Dam%(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(42)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(5), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(5), P'Shift-End%(40)

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I'd definitely give Time Manipulation a shot now that it's out. It's an amazing Controller secondary. Excellent buffs, decent healing, good debuffs, a bit of hard control, and a lot of soft control. Very cool. Very fun. Plays well with Fire/ Ice/ and Elec/ for the PBAOE Aura stacking. Could also be paired with Earth/ if you just want control for days.

I24 Proc Chance = (Enhanced Recharge + Activation Time) * (Current PPM * 1.25) / 60*(1 + .75*(.15*Radius - 0.011*Radius*(360-Arc)/30))
Single Target Radius = 0. AoE Non-Cone Arc = 360.