Illusion and Empathy: Oil and Water?

[tripthicket]

I've got this notion that I want to play an Illusion/Empathy controller, but I'm not sure they're gonna work so well together. If I solo, or play a non-support role on a team, the secondary doesn't seem to be doing me much good. If I play a team support role, the primary seems to be wasted. I think both powersets are great, but I don't see the synergy. Edumacate me?

[ZorkNemesis]

My opinions, which might br wrong.

 

From a team support perspective, Illusion Control's main gimmick is aggro control.  You have ways to redirect enemy attention in ways no other powerset can.  Phantom Army (and Phantasm's decoy) taunts everything in range and things that aren't taunted will be confused (Decieve) or afraid (Spectral Terror, which can also draw aggro).  Group Invisibility also reduces threat generation if I recall making it harder for those affected to get the foe's attention (it's also a decent defense boost).  By making sure your allies are not the target of enemy aggression that don't want to be, you'll be free to support them more by handing out buffs; Fortitude, Adrenilane Boost, Recovery/Regen Aura, maybe throw in Spirit Ward too.  If things do break away from the decoys, you have your heals for that.

 

Empathy isn't a good "offensive" set however and you won't find too much use for it in solo play.  The Phantasm is the only pet you can buff and he's kind of trash even with Fortitude; Adrenilane Boost is somewhat wasted on him since pets don't get the benefit of recharge bonuses.  Endurance shouldn't be an issue at least with Recovery Aura.

[Omega Force]

Both powersets are excellent individually, but there isn't any synergy.  Phantom Army can't be buffed, which is why the debuff heavy Radiation secondary was the killer app for years.  Like Zork said, Illusion's team role is aggro diffusion similar to masterminds:  PA adds three immune taunters to cover the squishies.

[Riverdusk]

It was the combo I used to suggest to people that REALLY wanted to be "healers" back in the day.  Not a role I'd suggest for this game, but it was the best for it if someone insisted, as at least they could throw out a phantom army and a spectral terror in between healing and buffing without any trouble (and have an easier time avoiding aggro) instead of having blasts they never used as a defender.

 

Still, it is a good enough combo if you like it, but yeah, not a whole lot of synergy.  Honestly illusion is good enough you don't need any synergy, but it of course is more optimal to have some.

[Doomguide2005]

     Well my thoughts are that in general a Controller primary and an Empathy are not a good mix.

And I play a lot of both Controllers and Empathy defenders.

     Why?  Primarily because the focus of both is in opposite directions.  When playing an Empath especially in a heated battle I've gone entire fights and barely seen anything but the team window.  I'm intensely focused buffing and healing.  Any blasts that are thrown are frequently used targeting through whoever appeared to be getting in trouble.  Meanwhile my Controllers (often Earth/**) are doing almost the opposite.  I'm focused on the foes and the battlefield and only peripherally noting the team window.  I deciding who to mez and how, where to drop my AoE patches etc..

     Now while I've done both Illusion and Empathy to 50 I've never paired them.  And of all the Controller sets Illusion strikes me as perhaps one of the best Controller sets to pair with Empathy and the one I'd be most likely to do so.  Illusion's pets require no attention, I can't buff most of them.  They are fire and forget.  I can do whatever I want after deploying them while they do there thing.  If it's Traps I can move about placing traps, if it's Empathy I can buff my team and if it all starts to go south I can focus on healing and buffing and all but forget PA, it's indestructible.  All I have to do is every 60 seconds or so drop another trio.  At least that's how it plays out in my head.  Lack of synergy isn't a downside it's a perk.

 

[tripthicket]

Thanks to all! This is exactly what I needed: information about how well this pairing would or would not work together. I too have played Illusion/ and Empathy/ (defender) separately to satisfying effect, but never together. You've provided me with roadmaps for how to utilize all the tools and when.

 

Which leads me to one of the main things to keep in mind when mulling over new characters: Play what you like!

[Two Dollar Bill]

Maybe I'm getting to this party a little late, but my main character for the first few years of the game, back when it was difficult, was Illusion/Empathy. That was definitely the finest support character I'd ever played in any MMO. With an unrivaled toolbox of varied abilities, there was nothing I couldn't deal with.
There's a tendency to think of Illusion Controllers as Phantom Army dispensers, but if you've got a Tanker who knows how to round 'em up and some Blaster-types to finish 'em off, maybe spamming Phantom Army isn't the correct solution. Maybe you can help the team more by giving the pets the day off and pumping that Tanker full of so many buffs and heals that he just cannot die. With Superior Invisibility, and staying out of AoEs, you can you use Absorb Pain with abandon, in ways that an Empathy Defender can't. If you stick to buffs, heals and Deceive you can fight with zero aggro and just focus on keeping everyone alive and fighting at peak efficiency.
I use to love that character, but as the game got easier and every task force became a speed-run steamroller, it lost its charm. Still, I do have an Illusion/Pain version currently and I'm hoping that if we get more really difficult end-game content maybe support characters will have their day in the sun again.

 

[Wompy]

Have one of these, solid team support.  You can solo it'll just take a while.

[Without_Pause]

Emp isn't one I would pick for solo, but as a team support build, I found it fantastic. It felt better than any attempt I did on a Defender. Also, both love recharge so IOs and Incarnates give you a general direction.

[ninja surprise]

Yesterday I was on a Yin TF with an Ill/Emp controller and they were awesome. They buffed teammates and distracted the enemies and helped us out considerably.

[oedipus_tex]

With the added challenge settings in the newer Task Forces, Illusion/Empathy is actually a solid support option. The combo was always particularly good as a dedicated support character, it's just that that role wasn't especially critical in the game as it exists up til now. 

 

The only thing I'd think through is whether you'd prefer to play this as Illusion/Empathy, Illusion/Pain, or Illusion/Thermal. All three have a lot in common. Thermal and Pain add some debuffs, where Empathy is all buffs (none of which affect your Phantom Army). Thermal has a very effective Regen-buster in Heat Exhaustion and probably has the easiest time of the three swapping between a team and soloist role.

[Meknomancer]

I never played one but the ones i did see were always fantastic, buff the team, run ahead drop PA, team comes in to mop up and the emp keeps everything running smooth. Turns out they were pretty popular along with ill/therm for pvp too.