Can anyone explain mind control?

Can anyone explain to me why anyone would pick mind control on a troller? thanks

Maybe explain why you think someone shouldn't?

...Really?

Is this a "I heard it was better on Dominators" question?

I COULD link you to my Mind/Kin guide, but it's fairly tl;dr. I'll just give you slightly less tl;dr...

Mesmerize: Mag 3.5, which means it can SLEEP AVs in ONE hit. Very handy solo, or when your team is facing down multiple AVs. No other control in the game can completely shut down an AV in one shot.

Mes/Lev/Dom makes for a rather viable attack chain from early on to level 50. While a lot of controller sets have only a hold and a DoT immob. Until level 32, a mind controller will kill enemies (particularly bosses or small groups) much faster than most other controller primaries. Bonus: The enemy can't attack back, because if he isn't held, then he's either asleep or being flung through the air. Slot for damage and treat a Mind controller like a Blaster with Mez effects and you can't go wrong. Confusion and Mass Confusion are not only fun, but unbeatable strategic tools for turning the tide of battle.

A Mind Controller is also one of the few AT Powersets in the game that could theoretically solo Hamidon. It's attacks don't have a "Position flag" (for melee, ranged, or aoe), which means you can hit and damage every single mito. And with 3 hold powers (Total dom, TK and of course Dominate), the greens will also eventually go down. Note that this is theoretical, though with enough regen bonuses and the right secondary and a lot of patience, I could see it happening. On a more realistic note, Mind's powers not being typed means you end up bypassing the defense of any NPC or character who relies on Positional defense.

Now, MC does have some issues. The lack of steady AoE containment really hurts one's ability to farm (Confuse and Fear don't add Containment. Sleep breaks on one hit. The AoE Hold takes 4 minutes to recharge). However, depending on what Secondary you take, this can be mitigated. Rad has an AoE hold. Kin, in conjunction with Mass Hypnosis, will let you safely Fulcrum Shift 10 enemies at once and 2-hit them with Terrorize and your Epic AoE and you'll NEVER lose a single hit point.

The best part about Mind, which is why it shines on Doms and seems lackluster on Controllers, is that it doesn't NEED a secondary. Many of the other Controller Primaries suddenly become very weak when you can't buff your pet, debuff your foes, or simply add on m04r damage. That is, when asking "Why would anyone play a Mind Controller", they're already considering it in comparison with other controller sets when paired with a buff/debuff secondary. On it's OWN, it's a very solid set.

Overall, if you have a min/max mentality, then perhaps a Mind controller isn't the best choice. But, if you simply have a concept that calls for a telepathic character, rolling Mind Control won't have you feeling left behind or gimped.

I'll leave you with one last thought: I've played a number of characters. But my Mind/Kin, my second 50, is the one that receives compliments for awesome gameplay. She's the one that solo'd the Clockwork King AV when the team tanks (yes, both of them) fell. She's the one who, when my tank kept faceplanting against psionic foes, I brought in, and we proceeded to wipe out the rest of the map with ease. She's the one who held off 3 War Walker EBs at once during the Apex Task Force (one perma-held, one perma-confused, the other was kept asleep). Now, some of that was probably just as much, if not more, due to my secondary and pool and APP choices. But at the end of the day, she's the character I enjoy playing most.

Mind Controllers are among the least likely support character to get pasted by incarnate enemies, because they can interact with them largely unseen. Reason enough there IMO.

This was not exactly a minmax question thread. I had been toying around with different /Poison trollers and was wondering what the capapilities of the set were, because i had never played the set past 20 my self.

I was trying to overlook my first impression on the set, hoping there was some big reason to pick the set, because it looked interesting.

The set seemed like it had a variety of interesting controls, and the AOE confuse seemed interesting, and would clump the mobs so i could envenom most of them.

Besides the confusion damage, for a /poison, seemed like the set wouldnt put out enough damage for what im looking for, with the only real AOE damage being a long recharge, containment dependant cone.

Sorry that my lack of knowledge and curiosity of a set offended some of you forum users

And thanks to those who responded politely.

I will also put in my $.02 cents: Because it's an awesome set. Period.

I've got 2 Mind/? 'trollers (Mind/Emp and Mind/Kin), as well as a Mind/Psi Dom.

There is NOTHING like locking down huge mobs with two, perhaps 3, AoE powers. And they're not all minons. And there's nothing like consistently locking down +4 Bosses when you shouldn't ordinarly be able to

I.e, pretty much what Steele said, in just about every way, although I can't speak yet for doing the coolness of the Mind/Kin yet... but Rose Dawn *does* solo extremely well, and is the +4 boss killer I speak of.

Obligational Dominators <> Controllers post.

I have Mind Control and Dominator versions of the same character. Apples and orange juice. The Controller is more popular with teams because of his buffs and debuffs. Just don't try to farm with him (either versions).

Mind on Dominators I find good but tremendously overrated. IMO a Mind Dominator is very different but not much better than any other Dominator. You get lots of powers that can Dominate, but still end up with fewer always-available hard controls that directly benefit. Sets like Earth Control that a lot of people say don't benefit that much IMO benefit more than Mind because a power like Stalagmites is up very often and provides very reliable control.

That Mind on Doms is "overrated", I can't comment on, I don't know where it's rated or who is rating it, for that matter. However, that a Mind Dom will "still end up with fewer always-available hard controls that directly benefit" (from Domination) is more of a fact-based statement, but I'm not sure what facts are used to support it. I suppose it's a matter of the nebulously defined term "hard controls". Nebulous in that I can't say I've seen consensus on what "hard control" is.

Even on SOs/basic IOs, Terrify is up for spawn-to-spawn crowd control. Perhaps it doesn't count as "hard control", I personally find it effective. That is, of course, only an opinion.

Moving beyind SOs/basic IOs, to a perma-dom build, in my own experience I find the CC sequence to be Mass Confusion > Terrify > Total Domination > Terrify > repeat. These all benefit from Domination. Also benefitting from Domination is Mass Hypnosis, basically always up, just in case. Then of course also benefitting from Dom is Mesmerize, Dominate and Confuse. Perma Dom Dominate and Confuse allow for some feats simply not available to anyone else, hold AV1 and confuse AV2.

Anyway, my own play experience doesn't jibe with Mind having fewer "always-available hard controls" when I find that there's always something available. Sorry to OP and others for continuing a discussion of Dominators, which the OP was not asking about.

A "hard control" is typically a hold or stun. A "soft control" is usually a fear or sleep. "Hard" controls ensure an enemy can take no meaningful action (including fleeing or otherwise traveling significantly), while "soft" controls only partially disable them.

I don't think confuse powers have ever had a clear place in this categorization, since they ensure a critter can take no meaningful action against players, but I usually infer that most players don't include it in "hard" controls, perhaps because confused targets can run around looking for targets.