Addicted to gravity - how do I branch out?

[biostem]

Hello fellow 'troller players!  I mainly play brutes or MMs, but also enjoy gravity controllers.  For me, that set is very straightforward to play, sets up containment pretty easily, and has many direct attacks that I can play almost like a blaster.  I've tried other sets, but find them much slower and plodding.  I'm not knocking controllers in general, as I've seen them do pretty incredible things!  I'm trying to expand my repertoire of played sets, but just can't seem to get into any of the other 'troller sets.  Any advice or suggestions?  Thanks in advance!

Edited September 12, 2020 by biostem

[roleki]

It might be helpful to know what you've tried before, and how far you got with them.  Would hate to write a 6000-word essay on Ill/Traps or whatever, only to find out you did that and didn't like it.

[biostem]

1 hour ago, roleki said:

It might be helpful to know what you've tried before, and how far you got with them.

I've played every controller primary set until the late teens/early 20s, (at least).

 

1 hour ago, 5099y_74c05 said:

Mind/ is similar in that it has an early game attack chain. Any controller primary can tighten up its early game attack chain by opting into an Auxiliary power pool containing an attack.

I've gone this route a few times, but I just hasn't been that satisfying to me;  The sorcery attack takes too long to animate, IMO.  I've chiefly dipped into the fighting pools if I want to go this route, but even then I feel like a severely handicapped scrapper...

Edited September 13, 2020 by biostem

[oedipus_tex]

Is the reason you like Gravity the sense of independence and ability to take on enemies head on without fussing with Containment? If so I'd roll a Dominator. Lots of folks over on that forum to help you make a choice. 

[TygerDarkstorm]

Roll a gravity dominator and feel even more blastery (especially if you go grav/energy)! 😄

[biostem]

27 minutes ago, oedipus_tex said:

Is the reason you like Gravity the sense of independence and ability to take on enemies head on without fussing with Containment? If so I'd roll a Dominator. Lots of folks over on that forum to help you make a choice. 

Well, it's actually very easy to setup containment with gravity;  crush sets it up, and gravity distortion sets up even more damage from lift and propel.

 

12 minutes ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

Roll a gravity dominator and feel even more blastery (especially if you go grav/energy)! 😄

I appreciate the input, but with gravity, I don't really need any more attacks, and I find the push to make domination permanent too much of a burden.

 

I really want to get into illusion, but it's just too difficult to setup containment with that set.

[oedipus_tex]

I'd try some kind of Plant, Dark, or Fire Dominator paired with a secondary like /Fire, /Savage or /Energy. The point of Dominators is the Assault set operates sort of like what Lift/Propel does for Gravity. Playing actual Gravity on Doms is often tricky because of the overlap of blast utility, the other sets don't get powers like that so they benefit from gaining access to actual attacks.

 

Plant/Fire is a very straightforward example that dishes good damage and is strong even before going perma-dom.

Edited September 13, 2020 by oedipus_tex

[JnEricsonx]

I made a Grav/Psi Dom.  Barring a couple of attacks, or dashing in for a Drain Psyche, he really feels like a  blaster-lite with some nice control.

[VV]

I mean, I get it. Gravity is an excellent primary. Most of the other primaries feel "mushy" compared to it. And if you do not like "confuse" as a control (like I don't), that reduces your choices even more.

 

That being said, I'm not sure what you are looking for in another set. Either Ice or Stone is pretty "hard" when it comes to non-confuse controls, though both are going to do less damage. Plant can power through stuff mainly due to Seeds and Creepers, but you will probably want a fairly defensive secondary like Cold or Dark. Illusion, just don't worry about setting up containment. Or, like someone said, take a secondary with decent controls. But, just be aware that nothing is going to remotely play like Gravity.

[Riverdusk]

Well, if you really want to "branch" out, I think plant is your only choice.

[TygerDarkstorm]

1 hour ago, Riverdusk said:

Well, if you really want to "branch" out, I think plant is your only choice.

[ninja surprise]

On 9/12/2020 at 9:33 PM, 5099y_74c05 said:

To remedy this you can pair Illusion with a secondary that has controls. /TA. /Traps, /Poison, and /Time all meet this criteria and are all good picks. To a lesser degree /Dark, /Rad, /Storm have controls in the mid game or are on longer timers. Either way those are all good pairs with Illusion.

Trick Arrow is the only one that gives a ST immob at level 1 for containment. With that you can immob then Blind and Spectral Wound to defeat an even level critter.

 But I totally understand OP's dilemma. My first 50 was a Grav/Kin and I couldn't get behind any other controller. People talk about Mind's massive damage but spooking Terrify every 15-25 seconds didn't feel like massive damage. Tried Fire/Rad, got sick of toggles and squishy pets.  Earth/Time has massive control but squat for damage. Tons of fun on teams though where I don't need to defeat stuff myself.

Ill/TA was pretty darn fun though. Trick Arrow adds debuffs to help the pets kill quicker, just enough damage, and lighting Oil Slick is a blast. Enjoyed it even more than Fire/TA.  Just remember to select No Redraw in the costume creator.

[TygerDarkstorm]

55 minutes ago, ninja surprise said:

Trick Arrow is the only one that gives a ST immob at level 1 for containment. With that you can immob then Blind and Spectral Wound to defeat an even level critter.

 

The web grenade from traps says "Hi." 😛 

[Shocktacular]

With Illusion, the Spectral Terror is your main control power (at least, that's how it seems to me).  I always wanted to get into that set but never could... until I tried Ill/Dark.  Holy hell is that combo amazing!  I'm also used to playing brutes, so I tend to dislike feeling squishy.  With /Dark defense & stealth powers and PA to draw aggro (plus an awesome heal power for emergencies), it's not a problem.  I tried an Ill/Time before the Ill/Dark, but I ended up liking /Dark better.

[Mercurias]

Well if you want something straightforward, you might like Fire/Dark or Plant/Storm.

 

For Fire/Dark, Fire makes containment setup easy, and it has high damage compared to other sets. It also can double-stack AoE Stuns with Howling Twilight and Flashfire to straight up mez bosses. Add to that some rock-solid utility (heals, buffs, the strongest rez in the game that is also a stun, AND excellent debuffs), stealth, and four support pets (three fire Imps and Dark Servant), plus regular use of Bonfire with a KB/KD proc, and you have a one-person lockdown team that is extremely easy to play on team or solo. I play my Fire/Dark/Fire Troller basically right in melee, standing on top of a bonfire patch while throwing fireballs, juggling enemies while they roast, and keeping my pets alive so they can ALSO hurt things. 

 

Plant/Storm has an extremely high amount of lockdown potential, as well as an extremely high overall damage from your DoTs, AoE confuse, and /Storm powers. For most of the game, you can anything short of an EB by popping Seeds of Confusion on a group, then Roots, and then focusing on locking down the boss while the enemies shred one another. Storm adds a dimension of positioning which Plants didn't have, as well as heavy debuffs and some really nice damage. By 50 you'll be likely to make Dominators jealous...And it's honestly easy to play since most of the powers just require you to set them and let them do their thing. 

 

Dark Control is also excellent, with its confusion power, cone fear, AoE Immob, and quick-summoning helper pets. It works extremely well paired with most other sets, but I like it best with Radiation Emission since it lets you keep at range...Which is where you need to be most of the time in order to best utilize your Cone Fear.

[roleki]

12 hours ago, Mercurias said:

Well if you want something straightforward, you might like Fire/Dark or Plant/Storm.

 

For Fire/Dark, Fire makes containment setup easy, and it has high damage compared to other sets. It also can double-stack AoE Stuns with Howling Twilight and Flashfire to straight up mez bosses. Add to that some rock-solid utility (heals, buffs, the strongest rez in the game that is also a stun, AND excellent debuffs), stealth, and four support pets (three fire Imps and Dark Servant), plus regular use of Bonfire with a KB/KD proc, and you have a one-person lockdown team that is extremely easy to play on team or solo. I play my Fire/Dark/Fire Troller basically right in melee, standing on top of a bonfire patch while throwing fireballs, juggling enemies while they roast, and keeping my pets alive so they can ALSO hurt things. 

Fire/Dark is an excellent all-purpose controller, almost up there with Ill/Dark.  One of the great synergies of Fire/Dark is wading into melee and firing off Soul Absorption.  Endurance issues: solved AND your pets get a huge +Regen bump on top of that, plus all the -ToHit and whatnot.  Dark is a great secondary for anything, but it really works well with Fire.

 

[capricorpse]

I'd give Electric Control a try!  Jolting Chain is a nice attack/soft control that's pretty spammable, if you're missing Lift.  Plus the set has good endurance management if you want to try a controller secondary that's been a drag for you in that department.

 

Also, and i may be inviting wrath here, but I play Dominators without permadom.  I've only achieved it on one of my high level Doms, and yes, of course it is super nice to have.  But it is totally possible to enjoy the AT without it, especially if you are a casual player or do a lot of teams.  You can still do enough control stacking, soft controls, minions control that you can be safe to blast away.  Overall you just have a to be a bit more careful about aggro.  The main difference I see with Doms is I just skip the AoE immobilize and focus on single target stuff.  Domination comes up plenty and it's a great tide turner or instant end refill. 

[VV]

On 9/12/2020 at 4:37 PM, biostem said:

For me, that set is very straightforward to play, sets up containment pretty easily, and has many direct attacks that I can play almost like a blaster.  I've tried other sets, but find them much slower and plodding.

I totally feel this. I've tried a bunch of different sets and can't get into them like I can Gravity. Nothing feels as powerful and controllery. One thing you might try is swapping to a Dominator (blasphemy, I know). This will give you more of that "blaster" feel you get from Gravity. I do have a Plant/Dark that is quite powerful, but you have to be okay with the enemies doing most of the work for you. I much prefer the THUNK of Propel.

[Nemu]

I believe I read somewhere that the OP doesn't do IOs. That rules out going the way of procs to augment damage.

 

Any primary with air superiority might give you some satisfaction. It's not propel but it's decent damage and soft control.

[krj12]

I dont think you can really get a true feel of any troller until you get the character well into the 30s.   Most of them feel plodding until you get the "core" power, whether it be the pets or whatever.

[Sykar]

I love my Grav/Time controller in his power suit. Only wish we had Gadgetry pool power already because I so want a drone, force barrier and the nano net.

 

Grav

Time

Teleport

Hover

Haste

(Gadgetry once out)

 

Feels very stylish, too.

 

Is the current plan. Left out Crush so far, never felt really worthwhile. AoE version is nice though.

Edited October 25, 2020 by Sykar