City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Feedback: Texas Handbook to Building Your Controller

Deacon_NA

By Deacon_NA,
Posted on: 2011-09-18 09:49 in Controllers

 

Posted

Hi folks,

I had never really planned to write a guide, but I recently had a bunch of personal work I wanted to avoid so I spent the weekend putting together what I thought would be a short guide on the subject of making a Controller build. 14 pages later it's a lot longer than I originally envisioned. I might trim it down some.

Anyway I know we have some experts here on the boards and I'd love to get some feedback. Some of what is being discussed in this guide is obviously subjective (since it is more an explanation of my outlook on slotting than anything--even if I'm actually unsure a totally objective guide for this game is impossible). I would like feedback on what you would like to have more info on, less info on, what is dead wrong, what obvious slotting I missed, and especially which sections need more explanation. I intended this for people who are at least somewhat familiar with their characters, but included some background info for reference.

Thanks!

-Oedipus Tex


UPDATE: A copy of the handbook is now temporarily published here: http://pastehtml.com/view/b7pokm6ab.html

 

Posted

This space originally held part of the guide itself. I'll steal it to add a short comment on the stuff I know is currently not covered. Some of this may be covered in a future update:
- Upcoming IO "archetype" enhancement sets
- Enhancement enhancers and their impact on builds
- Detail on secondary powersets
- Rules for exemplaring
- Better coverage on balancing choices between Recharge, Defense, Endurance, and how that interplays with the incarnate system


EDIT: Also, FYI, I just reviewed some of the slotting recommendations, and a few are pretty wonky. Please do not follow my current slotting advice for Hot Feet. I will fix it when I get an opportunity.. could be a few days.

 

Posted

Would you be opposed to hearing and maybe mentioning opposing opinions or philosophies? Glancing over it looks like a great guide, but I think there is definitely some differing takes on which bonuses are priorities. I realize you do mention there is a subjective element to the guide, but wasn't sure if you were interested in at least showing some alternative opinions. If you do want to keep it totally from a personal playstyle perspective, then great job so far.

@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff

 

Posted

My nit-pick comment:

The damage type is called "smashing" not "slash"

Global = Hedgefund (or some derivation thereof)

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by MentalMaden View Post
Would you be opposed to hearing and maybe mentioning opposing opinions or philosophies? Glancing over it looks like a great guide, but I think there is definitely some differing takes on which bonuses are priorities. I realize you do mention there is a subjective element to the guide, but wasn't sure if you were interested in at least showing some alternative opinions. If you do want to keep it totally from a personal playstyle perspective, then great job so far.

Actually, I am not sure I agree with all of my own advice, so if there are conflicting opinions, feel free to share them. I also know some powersets better than others. The guide will still be subjective, but I would be willing to include comments or suggestions from other users.

Specifically, I think that the section on Selecting a Primary Goal needs some retooling. I think right now it sounds like "All builds have this basis" when really what I means is "If you don't know where to start, choose one of these four build goals." I think I also need to add a section about unique considerations some secondaries add to this.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Deacon_NA View Post
My nit-pick comment:

The damage type is called "smashing" not "slash"

Oops, yep. I caught that typo a few times but must have missed some instances. I will fix it in the next version.

 

Posted

Quote:
Set it on auto (shift +left click) and forget about it.
The game's down, so I can't look at this. I've always done ctrl+left click, so I'm not sure if shift will work for this as well.
Quote:
But if you have 45 Defense and the enemy has above normal Accuracy, it might blow right through your defense as if you had zero.
Just because you're going over so many game terms, it might be worth nit picking this. I believe it's ToHit (as opposed to Accuracy) that blows through Defense.

Quote:
Confusion Powers (not including Arctic Air)

The default slotting of Confusion powers will almost always be from the excellent and modestly priced (for a purple set) Coercive Persuasion set. The main decision is between whether you need Ranged defense (a huge +5 bonus!) or not.
Recharge and Defense: x6 Coercive Persuasio
Just an inconsistency, because up t this point you've categorized the sets as "Ranged Defense," rather than simply "Defense."

Quote:
Stamina

Most characters will want to at least double-slot this, in some cases triple. A few with very high native endurance recovery may get away with one slot. Analysis of averages shows that the Performance Shifter: Chance for +Endurance proc provides more Recovery on average than a standard Recharge IO, although this is chance based.
Standard Slotting: x2 End Mod IOs, Performance Shifter: Chance for Endurance
You accidently wrote Recharge IO there.
I feel you may want to make this even more general than it is. On heroes that I don't put the health +recovery procs, I usually do 4 slots in Stamina, and I could see this necessary being the case with newer players.


I really, really like the guide over all. The only content change I think you ought to make is to give more love to S/L Defense builds. I don't know where you could give it said love. The only one I noticed missing that I have used to soft cap for S/L is Enfeebled Operation for immobilizes.

@Gilia1
I play heroes on Champion.
I play villains on Virtue.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gilia View Post
The game's down, so I can't look at this. I've always done ctrl+left click, so I'm not sure if shift will work for this as well.
You are correct. I will fix this.


Quote:
Just because you're going over so many game terms, it might be worth nit picking this. I believe it's ToHit (as opposed to Accuracy) that blows through Defense.
Good point. It could be "Accuracy" in PVP I suppose but much more commonly it would be ToHit (or possibly -Defense).


Quote:
Just an inconsistency, because up t this point you've categorized the sets as "Ranged Defense," rather than simply "Defense."
Agreed. I will add Ranged to this descriptor.


Quote:
You accidently wrote Recharge IO there.
For bizarre reasons, I frequently type "Recharge" when I mean "Endurance Modification." I also think there may be a few places I wrote "End Reduction" and not "End Mod."


Quote:
I feel you may want to make this even more general than it is. On heroes that I don't put the health +recovery procs, I usually do 4 slots in Stamina, and I could see this necessary being the case with newer players.
Hmm. I've never 4 slotted Stamina. Can you point to a build that does this?


Quote:
I really, really like the guide over all. The only content change I think you ought to make is to give more love to S/L Defense builds. I don't know where you could give it said love. The only one I noticed missing that I have used to soft cap for S/L is Enfeebled Operation for immobilizes.
Thank you! I still have a lot of work to do. One thing specifically I want to add is much more detail about how to actually do the building and testing. I am also hoping to include a breakdown of how to do a build gradually (starting with the cheapest sets and moving upward). The main thing I'm struggling with is being a naturally long winded person.

Thanks for pointing out about Enfeebled Operation.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by gec72 View Post
Should read "Transfusion (Kinetics)."


Very nice guide.

Oops, yep. And thanks.

 

Posted

Very nice Guide! I love playing my Controllers, and 2 of mine are Incarnates, but I still managed to pick up some useful tips here.

Also, I really like the format you used. It makes it easy to read (and take notes in the margins).

Please try my arcs:

Arc# 63910 "Why Do Bad Girls Like Bad Boys?" (length=Long, levels 40+)
Arc# 401500 "How to Be a Successful Professional Criminal" (length=Very Long, levels 1-10)

 

Posted

Great guide! This was a joy to read and I picked up some more good stuff and perspective for my controllers. I see two things you may wish to add.

1) MULE section: you may wish to include some discussion on the concealment powers for folks looking for more places to hide LotG +recharge IOs.

2) you may also wish to identify how a player is to determine whether their endurance recovery is sufficient. On one hand, it's straightforward to tell if a current build needs he'll. The problem is when someone is sketching a fantasy build in Mids, such as while leveling or before even creating the character. Having a rule of thumb would be helpfulfor newer players, or those who don't necessarily have deep ezperoennce with building this particular archetype.

Just some thoughts, otherwise this is a fantastic resource. Thank you for writing it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
...[I]t would be more proper to say this game is slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowly dying.