Normal Thomas

What Epic/Patron Pools do y'all like for Illusion? I went for Ice and I'm loving it so far. I know a lot of people go for Primal Forces but I don't see the point of power boost on a set that activates all of its control thru pets.

I love Force Bolt. I used that power a lot solo as my force fields Mastermind. I definitely think they need to up the damage to make it a viable attack and maybe add a splash knockdown effect like Propel has now. I never understood Clarity in that set, especially since the Sonic Dispersion Bubble already provides mez protection

That's an interesting one. I thought of a potential redesign of detention field making it a drop click power like Dimension Shift in Gravity Control. Foes would be stuck in the field for 10-20 seconds but could be effected by any player(s) entering the field. Also loving the responses. @The Philotic Knight especially has some really great ideas. I might try my hand at a more total redesign. That's very true. My Mastermind could go all in on Leadership and Medicine because he skipped so many of the powers and that can be a huge strength of "skippable" powers. However that does lead me to question why those powers are considered "skippable" and what would it take to make them equally compelling options on the power pick screen.

I feel Traps has the best synergy. You've definitely made me want to check out Cold Domination and Storm Summoning though.

Force Fields is an interesting set to me. My first level 50 was a Mercs/Force Fields Mastermind. One thing that stuck out to me and that probably sticks out to a lot of people as well is how many powers in Force Fields you can get away with skipping. I feel like most people go with Deflection Field, Insulation Field, Dispersion Bubble, Personal Force Field, Force Bubble and Force Bolt (usually because they have to). Everything else from there I think doesn't suit most people's playstyles or mesh well with how other people play the game (knockback is definitely frowned upon these days). Now Force Fields is a very foundational set. Sonic Resonance, and to a lesser extent Cold Domination, Thermal Radiation and even Traps, all build off the house Force Fields built. Sonic Resonance in particular is the most one to one in terms of influence, it even has a foe capture power! Ultimately however these sets have very different cores and are more well rounded than Force Fields, showing the developers had gained a much greater understanding of their own game systems and player's desires. I don't see Force Fields run much these days. I think the fact that it was made with an older paradigm of gameplay might be the reason for it but I don't necessarily see anything "wrong" with the set. Its focused around defense buffs and knockdown/knockback and that's exactly what it delivers on. It's also a very conceptually compelling set that features prominently as a power in comic books. However I do wonder, especially considering how powerset design has evolved through the game's history, what Force Fields would look like if it were made now instead of at the game's opening. So, let's say you had an opportunity to reimagine Force Fields: Would you still create a set centered around defense buffs and knockback/knockdown with only marginal or no changes? Or would you turn the set on its head with a totally new vision of its concept?

Incredible write up. Everything seems really compelling now!! The only challenge I have at the moment is making a name and concept for my character.

I had an Illusion Controller on live but this was when leveling was slower (like around pre-I7 slow) and I had trouble getting him up to lvl 18 (when things really kick off). I now feel deeply I want to try and make one again (especially since its an easier ride to get a full attack chain) but I'm curious how other people play their Illusion controllers, what secondaries and epic/patron pools synergize well with Illusion and as with any power sets what to slot and what to drop. Get personal about what you love and hate about them! Maybe even lead me to some builds you like or use. As far my current preferences I'm leaning toward Traps and Poison because they seem to be more offensive, active sets that still have some fun buffs for the team. My only lvl 50 controller (ever and on here none the less!) is Gravity/Time so I come in with that perspective when it comes to controllers. I am also adverse to taking Empathy and Pain Domination because while I do like to team, I value utility and versatility a lot and I don't want to play a set that can only excel on a team.

Banes only get minicrits from hide status on melee attacks unfortunately (do wish I could crit with Disruptor Blast...). After reading these past couple of posts I've decided to save placate for my final power slot just for this reason. I was originally going to get acrobatics but after reading about that one IO I decided it was unnecessary (I also got too many toggles as is). Here's the new build I'm building towards after reading this thread: It seems strong and relatively affordable. I only have a handful of the IO sets so far but I did a mission and even with mostly generic IOs it played nicely.

Thought they increased the knockback distance, not the magnitude.

Never bothered to put a knockback enhancement in mids (or in game for that matter) before so I didn't realized that knockback enhancements already increased knockback/knockdown magnitude.

Interesting idea but your suggestions seem better suited for procs. For example, a chance for increased knockback or knockdown.

I remember Guardian! I was @GeneralTeknos back then. I mostly played as Sgt. Devon (Mercs/Force Fields), Lythos (Dark Melee/Regen) and Cyclone Cyan (Ninja Blade/Ninjitsu). I'm on Everlasting now and my global is @Future Force Warrior. I definitely see some familiar faces here and I hope to run into y'all someday!

Mez protection and psi resistance definitely seems like a pretty killer app for an APP/PPP. The main thing keeping me from it is the long animation times for the attacks. Like, propel already takes a minute so I want some faster attacks too. That and psionic doesn't necessarily fit with my theming. Ice seems way more tempting now but I definitely feel secure in my decision to do primal forces. Definitely interested in more opinions and experiences with the PPPs.

So what's are the favorite patron and ancillary pools for Controllers? While I do mean this in general (I'm always super interested in what powersets are consider "the best") I'm also looking for a specific pool that will vibe well with my Gravity/Time Manipulation Controller. This build is a rough outline and a bit fantasy (probably don't have the dedication to get all those IO sets) but these are the powers I'm hoping to pick up. As far as what I am considering here it what I am considering: Fire Mastery Ice Mastery Primal Forces Mastery Mu Mastery Soul Mastery I already have a nice attack chain and damage output cause of my primary so I'm looking to augment that and hopefully add some utility. I'm very interested in Primal Forces cause of power boost but I do find the utility and damage output of the other sets I listed good as well. Obviously I got the late game in mind and while I'm not super dedicated to being the best and being able to solo +4/x8 etc. I'd like something that could keep up.