Illu/?

[ceto555]

Hi folks,

 

I'm looking to make an Illusion Controller for strictly solo leveling and messing around at 50.  Which secondary will give me the strongest soloer Controller?

 

Thanks

[DocMidknight]

  Depends on what your goals are. Are we talking about just random content? Soloing AV's or TF's? Pure savage mini gods? My personal favorite pairings are dark, cold and traps all of which are extremely tough and capable of doing some insane things with my current project being a thermal.  

Edited December 21, 2021 by DocMidknight

[ceto555]

I was thinking of soloing AV's and that sort of thing.

[StriderIV]

1 hour ago, ceto555 said:

I was thinking of soloing AV's and that sort of thing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Ill/Cold is one of the premiere AV soloing power combos.

[Omega Force]

Classically it was Ill/Rad.  Search for Local Man's guide. 

 

In general, you want debuff secondaries because Phantom Army can't be buffed, and -regen for AV/GMs.  Cold is pretty good too, you can proc out the tier 1 mandatory power and use the team shields as LotG mules, but won't have a heal.  Traps and Trick Arrow are also sets to consider.

[ceto555]

Thanks for the responses.

[Psyonico]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned storm yet.

 

No -Regen but you put out enough extra damage and have enough -resist that it doesn't really matter.

[Hjarki]

Illusion/Trick Arrow is probably my current favorite. While you definitely need to get a bit creative to make the recharge work, Ill/TA has all of the debuffs you want, adds AE damage and even brings status protection.

[Hedgefund]

I have a recently retired (finished t4s) ill/traps that was outstanding, particularly for big game hunting.  Traps, like TA, fills in a gap Ill has - immobs.  

[kelika2]

still love my ill/kin.  stacking siphon speed at all levels, while PA or the Phantom clones do not benefit from +dmg I slotted Blind with 4/6 Basilisk Gaze and 2 level 53 dmg/mez hamis to get the most outta Blind/Wounds

[Braddack]

my Main is an Ilu / Poison, he just tears trough AVs.

[Carnifax]

Ill/Dark works well too. Ill is nicely hands off once you drop PAs so gives you time to do Darkity dark stuff.

 

Fade is very good too and Soul thingy gives you a decent way to recover stamina. -ToHit is darks thing, which AVs will resist a lot but you also have a decent amount of -dam. And PAs, Fade and a good heal of course.

[arcane]

Most Illusion controllers should be able to solo AV’s with ease. Certainly Cold, Traps, Rad, Storm, Dark, TA, Poison, Therm, Kin.. All of the above should do it no question.

Edited December 22, 2021 by arcane

[oedipus_tex]

For a true soloist, meaning you're going to be soloing enemy packs as well as the end boss rather than just sneaking past them, I'd consider Illusion/Trick Arrow. Proc out TA's hold and Acid Arrow for damage and they are actually very good attacks. Oil Slick Arrow will be up every other spawn or so and provides an extra AoE. 

 

[LynxNordique]

Anything with -regen and - resistance for AV soloing. There are always trade offs, whatever you choose.

 

For example:

- With Dark, once everything is well set up, you will rarely get hit by the AV. The heal is strong but it is its -regen feature that is important. Tar patch is a decent -resist, but other sets are better at boosting damages. Dark Affinity makes AV fights safe, even before level 50, but long.

- With Rad, you can boost damages pretty well with Accelerate Metabolism and enervating field and you do get a decent end and recharge boost with AM along with the best -regen power of the game (lingering radiation). However, your - tohit is nowhere near as good as dark affinity. Perma-PA may be helpful to survive.

- Kin is THE damage boosting set. It also comes with a very strong heal (with also a - regen component) and an end refill power. However, you don't have other form of damage mitigation aside of repel (which can be skipable in some build) and Kin can be a "clicking hell". It's a lot less safer set, so you will have to make sure you have perma PA (with or without siphon speed). The good thing tho is that you will make Phantasms more resilient and protected against Status effects.

 

So all the sets have strong points and some weaknesses. It depends on what kind of play style you are looking for.

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by LynxNordique

[Enots]

I run a Ill/Cold/Psi. Used for bosses and soloing +4X8. Proc'd Psy Nado, PA, Sleet, Phantasm is enough AOE, with a FF proc Psynado is up every  6 seconds and does 180ish dmg before -res. The only weakness I have is lack of heal (which is rarely needed with near perma PA and softcapped range def). I'm going to experiment with the sleep heal proc in Blind to shore that up, even at a 33% proc rate- should be enough healing to top me off.

[plainguy]

6 hours ago, oedipus_tex said:

For a true soloist, meaning you're going to be soloing enemy packs as well as the end boss rather than just sneaking past them, I'd consider Illusion/Trick Arrow. Proc out TA's hold and Acid Arrow for damage and they are actually very good attacks. Oil Slick Arrow will be up every other spawn or so and provides an extra AoE. 

 

I have an illusion Trick Arrow and he is pretty dam good.. I was thoroughly impressed and wasn't expecting it.

[DoctorDitko]

Illusion/Storm/Mace (for the force field) has been an absolute blast to play.

In any situation, there is always a button to press -- a huge plus for me -- and much chaos ensues!

 

[Area Man]

On 12/21/2021 at 7:01 PM, Omega Force said:

Classically it was Ill/Rad.  Search for Local Man's guide. 

 

In general, you want debuff secondaries because Phantom Army can't be buffed, and -regen for AV/GMs.  Cold is pretty good too, you can proc out the tier 1 mandatory power and use the team shields as LotG mules, but won't have a heal.  Traps and Trick Arrow are also sets to consider.

 

It is nice to see folks still looking at my guide.  (I was Local Man on Live.  By the time I joined Homecoming, somebody "stole" my Local Man Global.  I would love to get it back.)

Phantom Army is the key to any solo Illusion build.  The only secondaries with + Recharge (to help get Perma-PA), -Defense and -Resistance are Radiation and Time.  Radiation also has TWO -Regen powers - Ling Rad and EM Pulse. It used to be that it was very hard to get Perma-PA on anything other than Ill/Rad, Ill/Time and Ill/Kin, but new IO sets have changed this.

Another benefit of Rad is that the two of the debuffs are targeted toggles, which means you can set them on the AV and then not worry about them.  This means you can get some extra attacks in rather than having to click powers or shoot arrows.  This makes Rad easier to play than many other secondaries.

Lots of secondaries go well with Illusion.  I've played a lot of them.  I still think Rad is the overall best.  Ill/Rad allows you to stay at range almost all the time (I skip Choking Cloud, so I only need to be close for Flash or EM Pulse.)  The best powers from the secondary come early (Heal, AM and the three debuffs).

Ill/Time is another great build, but the most beneficial powers come late in the Secondary.

Ill/Storm is a LOT of fun - I just love the Storm secondary, and you get added damage late. Freezing Rain adds Debuffs and some AoE control badly lacking in Illusion.  Also, since Illusion's damage is ranged and single target, Illusion isn't bothered much by knockback. While it has debuffs, it has no +Recharge powers so you need a LOT more +Recharge from sets to get perma-PA.

Ill/Cold is my 4th favorite paring.  Sleet has the same benefits as Freezing Rain, but comes later in the set.  The Cold shields help teams, but do not benefit Phantom Army.  But Cold has some powerful debuffs which will make PA hit harder.

Ill/Dark - another great combo with lots of debuffs and soft controls which help Illusion, but it is missing the + Recharge for Perma PA.

Ill/TA - Illusion may be the best primary for TA, even if TA is not the best Secondary for Illusion.  Why? Send out Phantom Army to grab aggro, and then you are free to use your arrows without drawing aggro - all at range.

Ill/Kin - while both are great sets, there isn't much synergy.  AND, Kin is very clicky, which prevents you from being able to use an attack chain.

While other illusion parings can be good, the buffing secondaries don't benefit Phantom Army.

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by Area Man

[ILIWAPCT]

I'd recommend either Dark or Rad.

 

[Redletter]

I have no more to add, just commenting to save the thread for later viewing since this all seems reallly useful info.

[jordanlc93]

On 12/22/2021 at 11:52 AM, oedipus_tex said:

For a true soloist, meaning you're going to be soloing enemy packs as well as the end boss rather than just sneaking past them, I'd consider Illusion/Trick Arrow. Proc out TA's hold and Acid Arrow for damage and they are actually very good attacks. Oil Slick Arrow will be up every other spawn or so and provides an extra AoE. 

 

 

 

What hold would you proc out in ta? Ice arrow? I do EMP / Acid arrow. Two great damage aoes 

[oedipus_tex]

13 hours ago, jordanlc93 said:

 

 

What hold would you proc out in ta? Ice arrow? I do EMP / Acid arrow. Two great damage aoes 

 

 

Yep, Ice Arrow. Personally I don't proc out EMP Arrow, tho you could. Acid Arrow and Ice Arrow for sure though.

[heywoods1230]

I am looking to make a new ill/* controller. Is electric affinity not viable for AV's or otherwise? It looks like it has -recov -regen -dmg and it has some nice buffs for you and your pets? Do the chain buffs like Energizing Circuit not effect the caster and his pet?

Edited January 28, 2022 by heywoods1230

[Hjarki]

Phantom Army is unaffected by buffs. Phantasm can be buffed/healed, but it's a relatively unimportant part of the kit.

 

As a result, most Illusion builds are debuff based.