Ill/Dark or Ill/Cold

[Doc Ranger]

I am a returning player who wants to try something different. I've done the Ice/Storm, Fir/Kin, Fire/Rad and played various Kin and Rad defenders back in the day. I have heard good things about Ill/Dark and Ill/Cold on various threads here. I've never played either combo so which do you think would play in groups better using mostly SO's? I'm not one to sit by the crafting table for hours trying to find the best IO sets just yet. I go to the store and buy the basic SO's and save the rest of my cash for the possibility of set exploration later on in life when I have time to delve into that complex universe. 

[JusticeBowler]

I love both sets, so I don't think you can go wrong with either one. Cold will be a little more useful in teams because "ice bubbles" but dark gets you my favorite pet in the game. Technically, if you are looking for high end performance ice hits those special places folks think only /rad and /kin deliver. But I think dark is more fun.

[Doc Ranger]

Looks like /cold has more "help teammate" powers. Whereas /dark might be more solo friendly? I've never played either...tough call.

[Mjolnerd]

I had an Ill/Dark at 50 back on live, but... actually I don't remember much about the specifics. I know it took a while to really get going, but once it did, it was extremely powerful and a lot of fun.

 

So, I recommend it, but I'm not exactly certain why anymore.

[Doc Ranger]

Or Ill/Rad for that matter. Cold, Rad or Dark...dangit.

[flair]

/Dark is more versatile, IMO. Cold is great in a group - but outside of a group you've got buffs you can only throw on your pet. With Dark you get PBAOE heal that debuffs accuracy and res, Fade is a great buff, tar patch helps you to lock down and res debuff, and the level 38 pet helps with dam/debuff/heal.

[Doc Ranger]

I don't really solo so keep that in mind.

[Frosticus]

Ill/Cold is hands down my favorite pairing for controllers, probably in the whole game. However, it takes a long time to reach maturity and while pretty decent with basic enhancements it benefits tremendously from set bonuses.

 

/dark is good pretty much from the get go and stays strong the whole way.

/cold can't really protect itself if you join a bad pug and you pull a lot of aggro with your powers so prepare to faceplant.

/dark imo doesn't have as high of a ceiling as /cold but can arguably help a mediocre team better if/when things go wrong.

[Pine]

Ill/Cold is an absolute beast. GM soloing fun!

Ill/Dark is also very strong, but I never enjoyed it as much as my /Cold. Too many clicks to watch out for.

[DSorrow]

I had an Ill/Cold back on official servers and it was one of my favorite characters in the whole game. Perma PA made it possible to solo pretty much anything in the game while ice shields, Sleet and Heat Loss make you very useful for teams. Currently in the process of remaking the character, so I'll report back in a few weeks... That said, it was a really hard pick for me between /Cold and /Dark and in the end I mostly picked /Cold because that's what the character had originally.

[oedipus_tex]

If we're talking in terms of pure power, skip both and go with Ill/Traps. Ill/Traps was never allowed on live because it is outrageously overpowered, at least if soloing AVs and GMs is your measurement. All 3 sets are still good, mind you. It's just that Traps will provide you:

 

  +14 defense to all except Psi

  Protection from Hold, Immob, and Stun

  Most of the stuff other sets give you, with the exception of an instant Heal (you get a mediocre Regen instead)

  Easily obtainable single target Containment for double damage

 

This is not to say that these other sets aren't still great in various ways. Cold, with IOs, is basically bottomless Endurance. Dark is just a great set overall.

 

 

 

 

[Gentoo]

Does summoning the Traps from /traps alert the enemies to your presence if you have superior invisibility on? Because if not.... this could be crazy.

[Frosticus]

The only issue with traps is the slow animations and ff gen moving along at a snails pace. (it's not honestly that bad though)

It takes forever and a day to get down an acid mortar and even longer for it to spread the potential for destruction over a spawn. Compared to other aoe -res like sleet, tarpatch, enervating field etc.

 

But the additional control it offers to a set like illusion (webnade, trops, choking of poison trap) and the way seeker drones can eat an alpha when your phantom army is down make it a pretty strong team controller while still retaining the ability to solo extremely well.

 

On a fast team you might not feel like you are doing much as you  are usually there just to be a forcemultiplier, but traps is too slow for that, On a slower, more methodical team it is an unreal combo.

 

Against big baddies /cold will let your team spike the target harder (sleet, heatloss and benumb), but as the fight goes on /traps is second to none. Very strong combo and very capable with just regular enhancements.

[Doc Ranger]

Anyone have an Ill/Cold basic build they could share? Just so's up through maybe 41?

 

[Aizbaer]

I can post my build when I'm back from work.