Total Noob question : how does one do damage as a Controller ?

[Bill Z Bubba]

2 minutes ago, arcane said:

Seems impossible to compare 1 to 1 with radios since the maps will vary forever and ever, no?

 

Run 5. Gets a solid average.

[arcane]

1 minute ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

Again, you lie. You won't bite. You won't even make an attempt. You'll state my standard isn't up to your specifications.

 

But I'll do it anyway.

 

CoT: PI radio: Run 5 clear all at max diff. Time each. Simple. A weak group. Could go Arachnos or Carnies. Video needed since I don't trust you.

You had me until video since I don’t know how to do that. Guess not posting CoH videos on YT makes me a liar *shrug*

 

Do you want the times without video or do you just want to throw insults and call it a day.

Edited May 4, 2022 by arcane

[Bill Z Bubba]

1 minute ago, arcane said:

You had me until video since I don’t know how to do that. Guess not posting CoH videos on YT makes me a liar *shrug*

 

Do you want the times without video or do you just want to throw insults and call it a day.

 

Sure, man. Gimme the times, no video.

[arcane]

Rad/Rad/Psy Defender, +4x8 CoT radios, cleared all, using occasional inspirations for survival but none for offense. At least no faceplants after the inspiration use.

 

Run 1 Cave 8:05

Run 2 Sewer 9:28

Run 3 Cave 7:25

Run 4 Office 9:23 (was clear in under 9, rescue was complete at this time)

Run 5 Sewer 10:47 (BLEH)

 

(OP so sorry..)

Edited May 5, 2022 by arcane

[Troo]

14 minutes ago, arcane said:

(OP so sorry..)

 

lol

[Bill Z Bubba]

Defeat Faculus and Guards: 7:39
Defeat Ursis and Guards: 7:37
Defeat Clemalion and Guards: 7:08
Get the Roc's Talon: Forgot stopwatch. Small map anyway.
Recover Tome of Hequat and Defeat Mesanis: 6:20
Defeat Terramis and Guards: 5:35

 

No insps used. Zero faceplants.

 

Edit: And this is with a middlin meleer. No damage aura. No taunt aura. No +damage from the secondary. Have to chase down runners.

 

Arcane, your 8 minute 1st run is impressive to me regardless. Good job. We didn't agree on no insps so I'm not holding you to it.

Edited May 5, 2022 by Bill Z Bubba

[Bill Z Bubba]

54 minutes ago, arcane said:

Rad/Rad/Psy Defender, +4x8 CoT radios, cleared all, using occasional inspirations for survival but none for offense.

 

Run 1 Cave 8:05

Run 2 Sewer 9:28

Run 3 Cave 7:25

Run 4 Office 9:23 (was clear in under 9, rescue was complete at this time)

Run 5 Sewer 10:47 (BLEH)

 

(OP so sorry..)

 

Nothing bleh about any of those times. Average is greater than mine and I didn't use any insps to survive, but they're still solid. Nothing to gripe about. Thank you. Doesn't show that I suck at my squshies any more than it shows that all squishies suck solo but it's a solid data point.

 

My dark/time controller vs my fire/nrg tank against CoT has a FAR greater discrepancy in clear time.

Edited May 5, 2022 by Bill Z Bubba

[arcane]

I’ll take my forum ban now for whatever went down on the last page.

[Bill Z Bubba]

4 minutes ago, arcane said:

I’ll take my forum ban now for whatever went down on the last page.

 

nah. We rode the line properly.

[Ignatz the Insane]

My biggest problem with some solo claims is they're often made with the assumption of a level 50 fully Incarnated, fully IO'd character doing level 50 content.  My Dark Defender for instance is quite capable of soloing level 50 content at max difficulty in respectable times.  She's soft capped to all damage and has excellent resistance to numerous damage types.  However, when I solo her at lower levels, I need to tune down the difficulty a bit.  It's possible to solo +4x8 at lower levels, but it takes for friggin' ever with some enemy groups, which includes generous inspiration use.  I imagine it's the same for any squishy character.  There is absolutely no comparison to the many Scrappers, Brutes, or Tankers I solo sub 50.  Incarnates make a huge difference in solo capability.

[Troo]

7 hours ago, Ignatz the Insane said:

made with the assumption of a level 50 fully Incarnated, fully IO'd character doing level 50 content.

+1

 

It can be nice to see what is possible but it would be really great to see how things are gonna help get to 40, and then to 50, and then 50+. Slotting changes, power selections can change, tactics might change. It also is helpful to see affordable builds rather than just billion $ builds.

Edited May 5, 2022 by Troo

[arcane]

I don’t think anyone *needs* to be able to solo +4x8 before level 50. I will stop short of nerfherding on those that can, but that those that can’t do not constitute a problem to me.

[Bill Z Bubba]

And that was kinda my point all along. Yes, anything can solo in this game but when taking the long view of soloing from level 1 to level 50 + 6 T4s, the differences in time taken to get it done between Archetypes and even combos within an Archetype can be huge.

[DoctorDitko]

I'm sure the OP -- and each of us -- is enjoying the by-play, but how is this helping him solo?

[Bill Z Bubba]

3 minutes ago, DoctorDitko said:

I'm sure the OP -- and each of us -- is enjoying the by-play, but how is this helping him solo?

 

It wasn't but the answers the OP needed were posted early on and can be summed up with "cheat cuz ya ain't melee."

[UltraAlt]

On 5/7/2022 at 9:13 PM, DoctorDitko said:

I'm sure the OP -- and each of us -- is enjoying the by-play, but how is this helping him solo?

 

No idea what is going on myself.

I can assume it is just another good reason to support the use of the ignore function in the forums. 

[arcane]

On 5/7/2022 at 8:13 PM, DoctorDitko said:

I'm sure the OP -- and each of us -- is enjoying the by-play, but how is this helping him solo?

At least gives a little sense of what happens when you solo with a squishy non-damage primary AT versus a melee… I suspect many of my Controller times would be similar for many though much slower on Ice/Time off the top of my head…

[Without_Pause]

Soloing +4/x8 is also very mob dependent. I did it on a level 48 Brute against Council. It was safe but painfully slow. I still have no desire to try it consistently against Longbow even at level 50(+1).

[JJDrakken]

On 4/22/2022 at 11:51 AM, ZEdglord said:

I get it, Controller is great, but how do you DO damage ? None of the skills even do damage past the first two ! That's what I'm curious about.

 

The single target hold does dmg. If you have Containment, you do double dmg with it.   That goes for any power that has dmg and you have containment.

[tidge]

On 4/22/2022 at 11:38 AM, ZEdglord said:

Hi all !

 

I was wondering how does one actually get anything done solo as a Controller. I know Illusion has acceptable damage (until you get Phantom Army then it becomes hilarious), but outside of Illu, how does one even do damage ? Like, you either have buffs or debuffs, which are great ! But you can't get anything done like that can you ?

 

At the start of my Controller's careers (I solo almost all my characters, even forgoing "Death from Below" buffs at times):

• P2W temp powers, the 5 special enhancements are acquired and ready to be slotted. I like Plasmatic Taser and Hand Grenade.

Controller damage from the P2W attacks is still terrible, but it helps smooth out what would be an otherwise boring experience at low levels. Some cost Inf, many are free.

 

Containment goes a long way, although it is hard to recognize at low levels... between focusing fire with single-target attacks, and few slots in powers. This is just one of those things you have to pick up on.

 

Others have mentioned %damage procs in attacks. They work especially well in AoE (I prefer them in Cones). By level 26, most Controllers will have at least one AoE that will serve (with %damage) as a combo control/damage power. I picked 26, because that is when Mind gets Terrify.... but this is still a relatively low level for the game, and an offensive AoE goes a LONG way.

 

Inspirations. My experience with Controllers has been that enemy mez/control is the most likely thing to ruin a Controller's experience, followed by -ToHit (or -Accuracy) debuffs. While leveling, Break Free and Insight are the ones I have found to be the most useful. Insights become less important after serious slotting, but when facing Circle of Thorns through low-to-middling levels those little yellow yummies make a difference.

 

There are temporary powers that allow you to summon pets to both debuff and do damage to enemies. Shivans are can be reloaded, The Snowmen are available from Winter time, and there are others that crop up through arc missions. Earning Shivans is harder as a Controller, because of the DPS and the need to defeat 8 turrets in a relatively short period of time, but it is not impossible. I feel like my solo Controllers have used Shivans (and Envenomed Daggers) against many EB/AV.

[Riverdusk]

Don't the "squishies" have some of the best pylon clear times (thanks to some of their availability to huge -regen debuff powers)?  That should translate well to soloing AV's and GM's.  I have a hard time believing most tanks would take out an AV as fast as say an illusion/cold controller can, for example.  As to a GM, I have a hard time believing a tank could take down one at all by themselves without a "P2W cheat" (as someone else described it), in this case daggers,  or I guess a good Lore pet.   But can't say I ever tried it on a tank, so could be wrong.  I only really tried it on controllers (successful on several different combos without any temps or incarnates).   I know TW/BIO scrappers were successful at GM hunting pre-nerf although I think they were using Degen interface to help.

 

Yes, AV/GM killing is a tiny part of what most would consider solo play, but personally I find it a fun part of soloing, being able to easily take out the "big boys".   I think that is a spot where at least some of the "squishies" can shine solo.  

[Bill Z Bubba]

33 minutes ago, Riverdusk said:

I have a hard time believing most tanks would take out an AV as fast as say an illusion/cold controller can, for example.

 

<5mins with my shield/nrg/soul tank to take out a Lattice monster out at Tempest Quay, but I had to use my T4ed Radial Carnies (DRM and Seneschal.) No daggers. Musc, Degen, Assault, Pyronic all in play. Doubt it's possible without Lore in play for this build. Edit: a bio/nrg tank wouldn't have an issue.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Bill Z Bubba

[Riverdusk]

3 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

<5mins with my shield/nrg/soul tank to take out a Lattice monster out at Tempest Quay, but I had to use my T4ed Radial Carnies (DRM and Seneschal.) No daggers. Musc, Degen, Assault, Pyronic all in play. Doubt it's possible without Lore in play for this build. Edit: a bio/nrg tank wouldn't have an issue.

 

Good point, I forgot how good energy melee is now for ST.  An energy/bio scrapper should be up for the job.

[Bill Z Bubba]

2 minutes ago, Riverdusk said:

Good point, I forgot how good energy melee is now for ST.  An energy/bio scrapper should be up for the job.

 

Went ahead and tested that. Nrg/Bio/Soul scrapper no lore, same incarnates, 5:33.

[Voltak]

On 4/22/2022 at 12:38 PM, ZEdglord said:

Hi all !

 

I was wondering how does one actually get anything done solo as a Controller. I know Illusion has acceptable damage (until you get Phantom Army then it becomes hilarious), but outside of Illu, how does one even do damage ? Like, you either have buffs or debuffs, which are great ! But you can't get anything done like that can you ?

My favorite way to do damage as a controller is to pair the primary with the /Storm secondary. 
It is the closest thing I can do to being like a Dominator but with the added control and damage in the secondary. 

Tornado, Lighting storm , freezing rain and hurricane are just too good for damage, positioning, and control , defense. 

Now, for grinding it from level 1 to, let's say, lvl 36...  
I did the grind on a Fire/Radiation controller. 

I solo'd him all the way to lvl 35.  

Fire/Rad combo is safe to solo with and you do decent damage to  be able to solo.   It is a challenge for endurance management, but you have to learn when to toggle and detoggle, and pack inspirations as well.   During your grind , P2W stuff is cheap. 

Edited May 18, 2022 by Voltak