Controller Pool Powers

[Doc Ranger]

What are some of the standard pool powers controllers should gravitate towards? Hasten for recharge speed on holds etc is pretty standard. But I see some take Tough/weave while others take CJ/Acro or Hover for a little protection. We can't take them all so what are some staples...and let's not bring IO's into it just yet. Just the basics please ;) 

[Redlynne]

Leadership.

 

/thread

[Dahle]

If we leave out straight Travel powers, because those will always be a preference.  (I'd choose TP on every toon if I could make it work...)

 

# 1 is Leadership.  It buffs you, your pets and your team.  Assault being bottom of the 3 main you probably will take and Tactics being the top.  Maneuvers is great early too, with a few End Reduc IOs.

 

# 2 is Fighting.  Grab one of the 2 openers and leave it empty if you want and then grab Tough and Weave.  I'd take the Leadership powers and only grab these if I had room though.  And honestly, if you want you can slot the openers for something I guess.

 

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Now, if you are looking to perma something with recharge, or you are just looking for an extra defensive, that may effect your choice for a travel power.

 

Haste - Obviously Perma-Haste is a thing.  And everyone would love it.  Plus Super Speed is a great power with a Stealth buff in it.  Combined with a something else that gives you stealth, you can run to the end of missions.  And if you can somehow teleport your team, complete those missions.

 

Hover - Kind of expensive, but maneuverability in combat is great.  And you can make it move kinda quick.  Fly seems to be a top pick for travel too, as it allows for controlled movement in most situations.

 

Combat Jumping - Low cost, great defensive power.  Can't complain, but I am not a Super Jump fan...  So make your on conclusions here. 

 

Recall Friend/TP Foe - Recall friend is great if you are bringing someone along for the ride or you have a full stealth mechanic.  TP Foe can help with positioning.  Teleport can also be the fastest travel power.

 

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With 4 Power Pools to select from, and the ability to select as many as I wanted from my 4 choices with no real thought for my endurance and team, I would take:

Leadership - #1 Maneuvers, #2 Tactics, #3 Assault

Speed - #1 Haste

Flight - #1 Hover, #2 Fly

Fighting - #1 (Boxing or Kick cause I have too), #2 Tough, #3 Weave

[Rocketmandb]

Not too long ago I respecced my Fire/Dark into Fighting, but not to get Tough/Weave. I got Cross Punch and I'm happy as all get out with it. It's a 50 degree cone melee attack that does roughly half of what Seismic Smash does against contained mobs, and 2/3 vs non-contained. It's also up so often that when Hasten is going, I can spam it pretty much every other attack.

 

Why I love this power:

 

- Cone attack that goes off as often as most similar ST attacks - granted, it hits single targets a chunk of the time

- Chance to knock down - nice one-two with Fissure (I took the Stone epic)

- Chance to stun - stacks with Flashfire (and Fissure) nicely.

 

I took box boxing and kick to get the extra 15% damage from each. The only other option would have been Tough, but with this build, the endurance isn't worth a pure +res power.

[Guffnat]

Why I love this power:

 

- Cone attack that goes off as often as most similar ST attacks - granted, it hits single targets a chunk of the time

- Chance to knock down - nice one-two with Fissure (I took the Stone epic)

- Chance to stun - stacks with Flashfire (and Fissure) nicely.

 

+ you can slot "Force Feedback: +Recharge"-proc into it. :)

[oedipus_tex]

Because both the Control and Buff powerset groups feature lots of long Recharge powers, Hasten is practically a required power for Controllers (not quite as essential as for Dominators, but close). It is honestly difficult for me to think of a single Controller build that is better off for skipping Hasten, even if you don't plan to IO. +70% Recharge is just too insanely good. The only set that might, maybe (maaaaaaybe) not benefit much would be some kind of /Force Field Controller that didn't care too much when the FF powers recharged, but even that Controller would still have a primary set with several long recharge powers.

 

I don't know if there's another pool power everyone takes. With IOs, though, Punch/Tough/Weave are very common. I personally rarely take the Leadership pool. I do try to squeeze in Heal Self on Controllers who lack a self heal.

[Erydanus]

To me, taking tough and weave and seriously slotting them as you level means you're terrible as a controller. I genuinely believe this. If you can't neutralize the threat you're facing as you level with your control powers and the buff/debuff in your secondary, there is something wrong. At high levels (40+) the amount of collateral incoming damage tends to rise (especially in big cranked up groups) and at THAT point I can see you needing damage mitigation for the brief window it takes to establish control. However that's why there's typically a defensive toggle in our epic pools and you don't have to have an unslotted filler power eating up a choice in your build to get it.

 

If someone wants a supplemental attack and they grab one from fighting, that's a different story. If they go on to grab weave or tough as a place to stick a knockdown protection piece or LOTG for recharge that again to me is different. But I am seeing people posting builds where they take boxing, tough, and weave at low levels and at the cost of cornerstone powers from their sets with the mentality that "fighting pool is mandatory." That's just not true.

[PrinceTycho]

I ended up taking Sorcery, just for the attack. I run solo a lot, with Elec as my primary, and I just felt like I needed the attack power.