Area Man

I prefer to start with Sovereign Right and Expedient Reinforcement Pet Resistance Bonus IOs. Then 3 more Expedient Reinforcement, and finish with an Acc/Dam Hami-O. Both Pet Resistance IOs make Singy much tougher, so it can be used more effectively as a tank/aggro magnet.

I was specifically talking about - Resistance and (to a lesser degree) - Defense. Those are the two debuffs which have the effect of buffing Phantom Army by improving their damage and accuracy. A stationary +Recharge field has limited benefit, especially with a fast moving team. Same with stationary debuffs.

Back on the Live forums, I wrote the only Guide to Electric Control. It discusses the powers, primary and secondary effects, and slotting options. You can find it here: https://web.archive.org/web/20120907044159/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=287903 Of course, back then, we did not have Electric as a Secondary. Electric Control and Ice Control were the two lowest damage Controller primaries -- and Ice may have been boosted when Homecoming added damage to Ice Slick. The key power of Electric Control is Static Field -- which is made mostly ineffective by anyone with AoE DoT powers. As a Controller, Electric works best on a small team, such as teamed with a tank and a scrapper -- the kind of team that does not use large AoE Damage-over-time powers. However, because Static Field recharges so quickly, it is very effective at controlling groups while your melee buddies kill off foes one-by-one. As I discussed in the Guide, the Gremlins are still lacking as pets. They are easily killed, don't do much damage and tend to run around almost as badly as the Fire Imps.

Time works quite well with Illusion. Mine is named "Time is an Illusion." (Lunchtime doubly so -- a "Hitchhiker's Guide" reference) Time and Rad are the only two secondaries with BOTH a Recharge Buff AND foe Debuffs -- both of which make Phantom Army more effective. Generally, the goal with Illusion is to get Perma-PA, so the Recharge buff helps with that. Since PA can't be buffed, the foe debuffs help Phantom Army be more effective. Plus, Time adds some additional controls otherwise lacking in the Illusion primary, so the synergy between the sets is very good. Personally, I rank Ill/Time just behind Ill/Rad, but very close.

Yep, my Earth/Storm was my fourth recreation of favorite characters from Live. Using both pet +Resistance procs on Rocky makes him very tough. So I like to use invisibility to lead him into drawing aggro, then stand back to unleash the controls and Storm damage. Of course, my Ill/Rad was my first.

Thanks -- I have no problem with any of those except Super Speed. Back on Live, it was common to take Super Speed with partial stealth power like Shadow Fall or Steamy Mist to get full invisibility -- even before Stealth IOs were available. I think it was a mistake to include Super Speed in that list. Yes, I'm sure it was debated, and it is not that big a thing with Stealth IOs being easy to get with merits. I suppose I just find it annoying. I used to take Super Speed on almost all of my characters with partial stealth. With only a few exceptions, I've now abandoned or respec'ed out of Super Speed as a travel power (unless Super Speed + Stealth IO is the "cheapest" way to get full invisibility without taking the Stealth Pool).

I still don't understand why the stealth in Super Speed no longer stacks with Steamy Mist/Arctic Fog/Shadowfall. I used to take Superspeed with all my Storm characters, which gave me full invisibility with Steamy Mist, and then I could "herdicane" with Hurricane and Superspeed. Now I have to put a Stealth IO in Superspeed to make the same thing work. Why the change?

If you are interested in going with an Illusion/Rad controller, might I suggest my old "A Local Guide to Ill/Rad Controller" on the old forums? It is still valid except that some of the newer IO sets give you some more options to go perma-PA. Here's the link: https://web.archive.org/web/20120904193426/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=121712 Illusion/Time also has those two key elements: a Recharge buff for you and foe de-buffs to make your PA more effective. It is almost as good as Ill/Rad. My personal favorite for AoE control is my Earth/Storm. He can solo, slowly, but can easily be the only controller on a full team. Grav/Storm can solo fairly well. You get four powers to deal ranged single-target damage in Gravity, plus Tornado and Lightning Storm in Storm.

If you want a TON of information on Illusion Strategy and slotting, take a look at my old "A Local Guide to the Illusion/Radiation Controller." Back on the Live forums, it was the most viewed powerset-specific guide. It is only out of date due to some of the new IO sets which are available on Homecoming, which were not available on the Live servers. You can find it here: https://web.archive.org/web/20120905042613/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=141225 It is important to understand how the Illusory Damage in Spectral Wounds works if you want to maximize your damage. The damage happens, and then heals back after a few seconds UNLESS you defeat the foe before the heal-back. So, the best strategy is to kill off the minions and the Lts. while letting your PA draw the attention of the bosses and AVs. To do this, you want a fast attack chain. What works best is Blind first to set up Containment, then Spectral Wounds (SW), some kind of blast, and another SW. By then, Blind should have recharged, so you can repeat the Blind-SW-Blast-SW chain over and over. As for the Blast -- you need something that recharges quickly enough to fit in the attack chain. In upper levels, only the Hero APP sets have that. I prefer to avoid Psi Blast since you are already doing Psi Damage, so the better choices are Fire or Ice. Fire does slightly more damage, so the choice really comes down to whether you want the Defense of Ice Shield, or the resistance of Fire Shield. For my Ill/Rad, I prefer Fire, but I chose Ice on my Ill/Time and Ill/Storm. I chose Fire with my Ill/TA, as the fire can also light the Oil Slick. As for exempting -- I keep the blast from the Sorcery Pool in my build for that reason. Mostly, I rely upon Invisibility and occasional uses of Deceive to let the team draw aggro before attacking to take out the Minions, then the Lts. It is also important to have the Team Teleport, as an Illusion Controller is one of the best Stealth characters thanks to Superior Invisibility. To grab glowies, you can Deceive any foes near the glowie to grab it without drawing aggro.

I wanted to THANK YOU for this update. I used Citybinder on Live until shutdown and then on Homecoming, and was using my old version. I have a 17-button MMO Mouse and a G13 gamepad, so I bind a bunch of powers to the buttons on the mouse and gamepad, and have a bunch of other binds I use with EVERY CHARACTER. I have now been using this update for about 6 months, since I found out it existed. So, I very much appreciate the update. I had been setting up a series of Ultimate Binds for every new powerset, but this saves me some work. I just wanted to post this since I recently started telling a few folks about how great it is to use Citybinder for my binds.

Maybe the power has changed since Live -- I know that Arctic Air was substantially improved, but I haven't checked and compared the numbers on Choking Cloud. Still, that does not affect the other points I made -- that I prefer to stay out of melee, and it ruins Stealth while drawing aggro.

If you run into melee Invisible, pop Flash, then run out and duck behind Phantasm (with his knockback) and/or Phantom Army with their taunt, then the few minions and Lts. who were not held usually won't come after you. It is something I don't use often, but it has occasional effective uses.

Here's my reasoning: 1) Choking Cloud is a PB AoE high endurance toggle which has a moderate chance to hold minions, and a lower chance to hold Lts., with no chance to hold bosses unless you happen to stack it with Blind. It also doesn't hold long enough to re-apply the hold UNLESS you slot at least 3 hold enhancements, so to effectively use it, you need 3 Hold, 3 EndRdx (or their IO equivalent). Frankly, Choking Cloud isn't all that effective unless it is paired with another PB AoE toggle (like Arctic Air or Hot Feet). It may hold a few minions, but only for a few seconds, while using a LOT of Endurance. In the guide, I went through all the numbers and why it needs to be fully slotted to be effective. 2) I play my Ill/Rad from range. The only powers that are in melee are (a) Choking Cloud, (b) Flash, and (c) EM Pulse. Both Flash and EM Pulse have long cool-downs -- so you can effectively run into melee invisible, fire them off, and then out of melee. Stealth is a key element of leading Phanty and Phantom Army into the fight. Once they engage and draw the aggro, then I back out and from range take down the minions, then Lts, one by one using my attack chain of Blind-SW-AP Blast-SW. Then the Pets can focus on the tougher foes and I can finally use my attack chain on those tougher foes while the pets hold their aggro. As I explain in the guide, the best way to maximize your damage with the illusory damage from SW and Phanty's Decoy is to take down the easiest foes first before they have time to heal back. (3) Choking Cloud ruins Stealth. So the strategy of leading pets into melee using stealth is destroyed by using Choking Cloud. The strategy of letting others and my pets grab aggro while invisible is destroyed by Choking Cloud because Choking Cloud draws aggro from any foes not held. The opportunity to run in and pop Flash or EM Pulse while invisible is ruined by Choking Cloud. By the way, Flash's long animation doesn't matter if you are invisible. I don't use Flash all that often, but it can be useful in the right situation, especially since Illusion lacks much AoE control. If you stack Flash and EM Pulse, you hold bosses. So, I skip Choking Cloud on my Ill/Rad and save those slots to put in other powers. I understand the appeal of the power, as I love it on my Ice/Rad and Fire/Rad, but on my Ill/Rad, it doesn't fit my playstyle.

I'm a little late to this party, but I know a bit about the Illusion/Radiation build. Back on the Live forums, I wrote the most viewed build-specific guide on the forums, "A Local Guide to the Illusion/Radiation Controller." Here's the Guide: https://web.archive.org/web/20120905042613/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=141225 That guide goes into a LOT of details on the powers, synergy and strategy for playing an Ill/Rad. The IO builds I had in that guide are somewhat out of date, as there are a bunch of new IO sets available, some of which can add more Recharge. However, just about everything else still applies. I do NOT recommend Choking Cloud for an Ill/Rad -- for the most part, an Ill/Rad should stay out of melee and avoid aggro, maximizing use of stealth and distraction. Let PA and Phanty grab the aggro, while you stay at range and use your attack chain of Blind-SW-Blast-SW to take down low level foes before focusing on the tougher ones. (As I explain in the guide, that's the best way to maximize the benefits of Illusory Damage from Spectral Wounds and Phanty's Decoy.) I also avoid the Fighting Pool. In my build, I skipped Group Invis, Choking Cloud and Fallout. Choking Cloud is a toggle hold that only works some of the time, while drawing aggro from foes not held. It works best with another PB-AoE toggle that combines control effects to get better results. It is a key power for an Ice/Rad or Fire/Rad, both of which have that PB-AoE toggle (Arctic Air and Hot Feet).

It depends on the build, but I take it with most controllers as one of the few sources of direct damage and Containment. It is good for stacking Immob on bosses and tougher targets. It can also be used as a good IO set mule, too. In particular, Ice and Electric control are so low damage that it becomes one of the few sources of damage. However, that also depends on the secondary -- I may respec out of the Immob on a */Storm, since Storm add good damage in later levels.

As for gaining XP for foes defeated by PA, yes, you get the XP. You may want to read my guide (linked above) to learn about the unique aspects of Illusory Damage from Spectral Wounds and Phantasm's Decoy. I gave strategies to maximize your damage for Illusory Damage. I also talked about the semi-myth on XP loss from Confuse powers like Deceive.

No, not accurate. Phantom Army cannot be buffed other than by slotting in the power itself. Buffs on the caster do not affect the PA. I tested this back when I wrote my Local Guide to the Illusion/Radiation Controller. The buffs from AM had no effect on PA other than to speed the Recharge for re-casting. That is why I prefer Ill/Rad and Ill/Time over Ill/Kin; both Rad and Time have BOTH a Recharge buff AND foe debuffs to make PA better. Kin only has the Recharge buff. Kin's other buffs can affect Phantasm, but not PA. Here's the Guide: https://web.archive.org/web/20120905042613/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=141225

It is nice to see that folks are still using my Guides. Yeah, my playstyle is to maximize control from range over Defense or Resistance, so I never get the Fighting Pool on Controllers. I build for Recharge rather than Defense. I like to use stealth and misdirection over being a tank -- I let teammates or Rocky do the tanking. Since Earth Control only has one skippable PB AoE control power (Salt Crystals), Earth Control works great for this ranged, high control playstyle. Generally, I only skip Salt Crystals, Fallout and Choking Cloud. I haven't really looked at a final IO build for Earth/Rad on Homecoming, with the new sets available. I suppose I should do that. One comment on Quicksand -- it is not only a great patch slow, but the huge Defense Debuff, plus the Defense Debuff in IR, adds up to affect higher level foes. Both powers are autohit, so the most foes get is resistance to the debuff. Most good teams kill everything off so fast that I usually don't have time to get a good IR anchor, but it is fantastic on AVs and other high HP targets. For the most part, I continually use Quicksand to follow up my AoE Controls: Earthquake + Quicksand, Stalagmites + Stone Cages + Quicksand, and Volcanic Gasses + Quicksand. IR only gets added if I find a good anchor who will last more than a few seconds. Most folks on teams don't notice the effect of that Defense Debuff, but it really does result in the team taking down groups faster, especially if they are purples that would result in more missing. An Earth/Rad on a team should mean that the mission can be bumped up a level.

The issue is not only the worthless damage, but the lack of RECHARGE enhancement. A few of the Slow powers are toggles, like Arctic Air or Snow Storm. But a lot of the non-damage Slow powers are click powers which need Recharge and Accuracy. The Slow sets have very little Recharge and very little EndRdx. The existing sets only have 1/3 Recharge, so the only option to get a decent amount of Recharge is to use generics. That's why I called it "Recharge Intensive Slow" sets, similar to the Recharge Intensive Pets sets. The current sets only have 2 x 1/2 Acc, 1/2 + 1/3 EndRdx. Take Curtail Speed, and change the Dam/Slow to Acc/Rech or pure Recharge, and the Range/Slow to Recharge/Slow Generally, I slot Quicksand only with Recharge so it is up for nearly every group. Powers like Tar Patch, Lingering Radiation, Shiver and Time Crawl need Accuracy and Recharge, and a little Slow. Slow is clearly not overpowered, so having it up more often would not upset balance.

Here is an IO set I think the game has needed for a long time: Recharge Intensive Slow. Let's face it, all of the existing Slow IO sets suck. Not only are the sets mostly useless, but their bonuses suck, too. They all have Damage as an enhancement component. However, there are a LOT of Slow powers in the game that have no damage, and need Recharge to be up more often -- Just a few examples include Dark Miasma's Tar Patch, Ice Control's Shiver and Arctic Air, Storm's Snow Storm, Earth Control's Quicksand, Radiation's Lingering Radiation, just to name a few. In fact, a LOT of powersets have a slow power that does no damage, so they don't need Damage enhancement. These powers need Accuracy (usually but not always), plus Recharge, Slow and EndRdx, and some could use Range. Because the set bonuses for Slow sets suck, how often people acually use the existing slow sets? The Set bonuses should include Recharge, Recovery, Regen, maybe S/L Resistance, maybe knockback protection. The sets could use some interesting procs, from damage to debuffs like -Resistance.

A long, long time ago, back on the live forums, I wrote a guide for the Earth/Rad Controller. Here's the link: https://web.archive.org/web/20120904193426/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=121712 I consider Earth to be the best AoE control set. It is versatile with different types of control. It has arguably the second best pet among controllers. Here's my take on your build, but I have to explain a little bit about playstyle preferences. First, I LOVE Controllers. By far, my favorite archetype. However, I build my Controllers to CONTROL, not be tanks. I don't take the Fighting Pool on Controllers, as I'd rather take control powers or buff/debuff powers instead. I may faceplant once in a while, but that's OK since I think the benefits of more control outweigh the occasional faceplant. Instead of slotting for Defense or Resistance, I usually slot for Recharge. To help reduce those faceplants, almost all my controllers use invisibility a bunch. When I have a tanky pet, I use invisibility to lead the pet into drawing aggro before I use my AoE controls. Some controllers work best at melee (Ice, Electric, Fire) while others work best at range (Earth, Grav, Mind, Symph) and others can involve running in and out of melee, like Dark. I like to use invisibility when staying out of melee to avoid aggro until something or someone else grabs that aggro (when possible). So, my playstyle with an Earth/Rad is to either lead Rocky into melee and back out, or let the tanks and brutes grab aggro, staying at range. Earth Controllers have three powerful ranged AoE control powers. 1) Earthquake (+Quicksand), 2) Stalagmites + Stone Cages (+Quicksand), and 3) Volcanic Gasses (+Quicksand). EM Pulse is a 4th, but that requires melee so I rarely use it except as an 'oh crap" power. Quicksand is an underappreciated power: it is not only a slow, but a huge Defense Debuff, making it easier for everyone to hit. I skip Choking Cloud (and Fallout) on my Earth/Rad, as I stay out of melee, and CC uses a lot of endurance AND Slots. On the other hand, I love Choking Cloud on my Fire/Rad, Ice/Rad and Elec/Rad. All of those have secondary PB AoE toggles which synergize extremely well with Choking Cloud. Instead of slotting Fossilize for Damage, I slot for hold and a little damage. Instead, I take Stone Prison and slot it for damage. I put more Recharge in Quicksand since I use it so often. I use Super Speed + Stealth IO to get my invisibility. No leaping for most controllers - I save leaping for melee fighters. I try to put 2 Enzymes in RI, and more accuracy in LR - LR's important for its -Regen against AVs, so it needs more accuracy. I like the Lockdown +2 proc in Volcanic Gasses as it helps the power hold bosses. Animate Stone (Rocky) gets BOTH pet Resistance Procs as it helps his survival when he tanks.

I consider Gravity Control to be a RANGED control set as there are no melee powers. I like to stand back, often behind Singy so he takes any aggro, while I pick off individual foes with GD-Crush-Lift-Propel. /Rad's Choking Cloud usually isn't worth taking without another PBAoE power like Fire's Hot Feet or Ice's Arctic Air. Both powers combine for an effective PBAoE combo.

Exactly! I consider Hurricane is a very useful tool if used judiciously. I keep it on a quick toggle on my mouse, usually bound to button 5. I usually only run it for a few seconds before I toggle it off. If you Immobilize a group and then hit them with Hurricane's ToHit Debuff, it is almost like an AoE hold for lower level foes. It makes a nice defensive "Get-Away-from-Me!" power. I also use it to "Herdicane" - to push scattered foes into a tighter group. Hurricane is great for blocking doorways and especially for keeping foes away from the Reactor in the Respec mission.

TECHNICALLY Fallout is a damage power in /Rad, even through it is a pretty stupid situational power that almost everyone skips. Also, EM Pulse does damage to robots, and you could add some damage procs, too. But, yeah, /Storm is a great secondary for Gravity -- there is lots of synergy plus good damage from Tornado and Lightning Storm. Freezing Rain + Crushing Field is almost a fall-down field, giving Gravity some badly needed AoE control. Have you ever played "Minion Soccer" with Singy? Use Hurricane to blow minions back into Singy's Repel and kick them back and forth.

The most important change due to IOs is that you want to put a Knockback-to-Knockdown IO into Bonfire. That turns it into an effective knockdown field, similar to Earthquake. That IO turns a situational power into a badly needed effective control power. You also want to plan to put a Lockdown +2 Mag Hold proc in Choking Cloud. This gives you a greater chance to hold foes in the Cloud. Fly is fine, but I usually take Mystic Flight over Flight because you get Teleport for free. OR, if you want full invisibility, then you can take Super Speed and add a Stealth IO.