Max_Ren

Controller is in my opinion the most difficult class to generalize about because each combo produces very different types of characters. I've been meaning to do a write up like this anyway, so here are my thoughts: ILLUSION Only available on Controllers Best things Unkillable pets that do good damage and can tank AVs/GMs Worst things No AoE hard Controls at all. Very different from other Control sets. FIRE Controllers Best things Passive damage aura (Hot Feet) that benefits from Containment damage. This makes Fire Control potentially very high damage while allowing the character to manage a busy secondary set (eg Kinetics) Very squishy pets benefit from buffing This set tends to draw a lot of aggro, so having extra healing/defense etc from a buff set can extend survivability Worst things Other than Bonfire, all Control powers are Holds and Stuns, making it extremely vulnerable to lockouts when enemies have Dispersion Bubble powers Most secondaries offer no mezz protection, making Hot Feet vulnerable to detoggle until you plug this hole Dominator Best things Turning Flashfire into a Mag 6 stun makes it one of the strongest, (if not THE strongest) ranged hard mezzes in the game, and bypasses most of the concerns about Dispersion Bubble above Since the secondary effect of Fire is just "more damage" and Doms have higher damage than Controller, the values translate better Mezz protection in Domination mode helps prevent Hot Feet detoggles Worst things No way other than Controls to support very squishy pets Dominator generally has poor self heals/defense to facilitate surviving the aggro Hot Feet can draw EARTH Controllers Best things Already solid pet becomes nearly unkillable with the right secondary pairings. This powerset has strong enough controls that going Dominator may not be required to still achieve lockdown, especially depending on the secondary set that is selected. Worst things This is a very low damage control set. Dominators Best things The low damage of Earth Control pairs excellently with the high damage of Assault secondaries Although -Defense scales between Controller and Dominator, it mostly does not matter. The only other secondary effect Earth Control has(-ToHit in Earthquake) is the same (-10%) between both archetypes Stalagmites as a Mag 6 AoE stun vies for the position of best ranged control power in the game, beat only by Flashfire because stalagmites requires you to be on the ground Worst things AoE hold power does not benefit from Domination ICE Controllers Best things Controllers do more -Recharge as a secondary effect than Dominators do Already solid pet becomes nearly unkillable with the right secondary pairings Worst things This is a very low damage control set that struggles to solo on its own and contributes limited damage to the team Arctic Air is vulnerable to detoggling until you obtain some form of mezz protection Dominators Best things The low damage of Ice Control pairs excellently with the high damage of Assault secondaries Mezz protection in Domination prevents Arctic Air from detoggling The pet is fairly solid and doesn't require much additional support Worst things Arctic Air does not increase magnitude when in Domination mode ELECTRIC Controllers Best things You get the same strength from Static Field and almost the same strength from Synpatic Overload (barring first target) as a Dominator anyway since those powers dont benefit Pets are relatively squishy and do well with some extra support Worst things This is a fairly low damage control set Dominators Best things Low damage in the primary lends itself well to pairing with the high damage Assault secondaries Unlike other secondary effects, -Recovery and -Endurance do not scale between Controller and Dominator, so both do identical endurance draining Worst things Synaptic Overload only applies the Domination effect to the first target in the chain Static Field does not apply the Domination effect No real way to support the squishy pets MIND Controllers Best things Umm... theme? Worst things AoE Containment is difficult to achieve, making this set very low damage Having no pet really hurts most Controllers Relies on relatively low magnitude, long recharge powers Few opportunities for damage proc to close damage gap with Dominator Other than theme, overall just worse than a similar Dark or Illusion Controller Dominators Best things Unlike a Controller, does not rely on Containment for extra damage ALL powers benefit from extra Magnitude in Domination mode Mind has no secondary effect, so there is no scaling between archetypes Worst things Despite being better on Dominators, the set overall still suffers from punitive recharge times and has no secondary effect to back itself up DARK Controllers Best things Controllers have higher -ToHit as a secondary effect. The ToHit in Dark Control makes the actual mezzes less critical as enemies can't hit you anyway. Lots of opportunities for damage procs to help close the hole on damage Worst things Only that Dark Control is mediocre damage even with procs Dominators Best things All powers you would expect to benefit from Domination mode do so, even the AoE Hold Excellent pet requires little supervision Assault sets assist Dark's mediocre damage Worst things Worse -ToHit than a similar Controller GRAVITY Controllers Best things Very high damage blast types powers that give this set significantly higher single target damage than other control sets, obviating the need for an Assault set Worst things All Control powers are Holds or Stuns, so vulnerable to lockouts when enemies have Dispersion Bubble powers Dominator Best things Wormhole in Domination mode is the best ranged hard mezz in the game (a mag 6 non-notify stun with a teleport effect) so it may be worth playing this combo just for this. Though the secondary effect -RunSpeed scales across ATs, it probably doesn't matter Worst things Relatively few powers benefit from Domination "Impact" damage mechanic doesn't apply to Assault sets, so you would be doing high damage even without an Assault set Extra damage mechanics in some other Assault sets don't apply to Gravity's high damage powers However might still work well paired with one of the more utility-based Assault secondaries if most blast powers are skipped PLANT Controllers Best things Does decent (not great, initially) damage on its own Seeds of Confusion can slot Coercive Persuasion: Chance for Contagious Confusion, which has a very high chance to proc. If it does, the Seeds of Confusion is not remarkably different in Controller v Dom versions. Worst things No secondary effect. Dominators Best things Pairs "just right" with Assault secondaries as most of the sources of its high damage capability do not replace effects in the secondaries No secondary effect means no scaling between ATs. Worst things Nearly all of the control capability comes from just one power, Seeds of Confusion, a Mag 6 (in Domination) Confuse. If that misses, Plant Dominators have no buff set to back themselves up with and have to hope their AoE hold is up, run away, or tank through the damage.