Being the ultimate team player!

[biostem]

I really like playing my kinetics/sonic blast defender;  Plenty of buffs, debuffs, healing, end, a cone sleep, a single target stun, and that's not counting your epic or patron power pool choice.

[Agorazium]

My main is a dark/time controller. She’s my favorite character to lead teams with because even if everyone else is level 1 she can tank most enemy groups at +4 and give the team a ton of +tohit so they feel like they’re doing something. Lots of proc opportunities in both sets if you feel like your damage is low, and the -tohit from dark control is an underrated pseudo-defense buff to your whole team on top of Farsight. I think this combo has just about everything you're wanting...

 

Debuffs: Slowed Response is easy to get on a short cooldown and can take an Achilles -res proc for massive AOE -res and -def. Time's Juncture is amazing too. Everything in Dark/ does -tohit. 

 

CC: Dark Control is one of the better control sets IMO and Shadow Field stacks very nicely with Distortion Field. Time Stop also means you can instant-hold bosses which is a weakness of controllers otherwise. The pet is not the greatest but has a lot of cone attacks - slotting an Overwhelming Force knockdown proc gives you a ton of extra soft control on top of your AOE hold, stun, and fear.

 

Mid-level maintenance: Farsight and Chrono Shift are up every 90-120 seconds. Temporal Selection is your single-target buff which has a long-ish recharge too so you only need to click it every minute or so.

 

Damage: Heart of Darkness is one of the best proc bombs in the game and can become a huge nuke. Slowed Response also takes multiple damage procs. I have my ST hold slotted with 5 procs since otherwise ST damage is lacking in this build.

 

Clear position: You do have a cone in Fearsome Stare (and the immob if you need it) but everything else can be done from melee, meaning you only need to open with the cone and then jump into the enemies for the rest of the fight. This is less annoying than it sounds since the couple seconds you spend casting the fear gives your melees time to grab aggro so you should never die.

 

Buffing: Farsight/Chrono Shift are PBAOEs so you're not going to hit everyone every time, but it's not the end of the world since you do so many other things with these powersets to keep your time alive and healthy.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by Sovereigne

[Guffnat]

3 hours ago, Sovereigne said:

My main is a dark/time controller. She’s my favorite character to lead teams with because even if everyone else is level 1 she can tank most enemy groups at +4 and give the team a ton of +tohit so they feel like they’re doing something. Lots of proc opportunities in both sets if you feel like your damage is low, and the -tohit from dark control is an underrated pseudo-defense buff to your whole team on top of Farsight. I think this combo has just about everything you're wanting...

 

Debuffs: Slowed Response is easy to get on a short cooldown and can take an Achilles -res proc for massive AOE -res and -def. Time's Juncture is amazing too. Everything in Dark/ does -tohit. 

 

CC: Dark Control is one of the better control sets IMO and Shadow Field stacks very nicely with Distortion Field. Time Stop also means you can instant-hold bosses which is a weakness of controllers otherwise. The pet is not the greatest but has a lot of cone attacks - slotting an Overwhelming Force knockdown proc gives you a ton of extra soft control on top of your AOE hold, stun, and fear.

 

Mid-level maintenance: Farsight and Chrono Shift are up every 90-120 seconds. Temporal Selection is your single-target buff which has a long-ish recharge too so you only need to click it every minute or so.

 

Damage: Heart of Darkness is one of the best proc bombs in the game and can become a huge nuke. Slowed Response also takes multiple damage procs. I have my ST hold slotted with 5 procs since otherwise ST damage is lacking in this build.

 

Clear position: You do have a cone in Fearsome Stare (and the immob if you need it) but everything else can be done from melee, meaning you only need to open with the cone and then jump into the enemies for the rest of the fight. This is less annoying than it sounds since the couple seconds you spend casting the fear gives your melees time to grab aggro so you should never die.

 

Buffing: Farsight/Chrono Shift are PBAOEs so you're not going to hit everyone every time, but it's not the end of the world since you do so many other things with these powersets to keep your time alive and healthy.

 

 

 

I have similar experience with my Ice/Time Controller. With Arctic Air and Times Juncture running I can teleport into spawns and just sit there and laugh. I am currently testing Ice/Elec (for the awesome status protection) and Elec/Elec controller because Jolting Chain and Static Field are awesome. Can't decide which one I like more.

[Voltak]

9 hours ago, purplereign said:

All of this is immensely helpful information, and I've been looking at your videos over the last few days. Do you have an all-around build that you could recommend?

 

Separately? My only major gripe so far (I'm only level 27) is that Elec Affin feels arguably too active. I constantly feel like I can't skip a beat and I have to be pressing something every second. Does it become more natural, or am I missing something?

I will post the build in the same section, same thread,   where the video is posted. 

Also, as you learn to use and manage Elec Affinity, you will learn patterns and sequences, you will learn when and when not to use certain powers and you will learn movement or how and when to position yourself. 

Then you will just react, you will fire off your sequence and then back to blasting, or sometimes just waiting. 

I recorded the highest level of 801s possible in the game yesterday.   

I will post that as well. 

I will place the build as well in that same thread. 

Let me mention some things about what others say about your buffs are welcome for their toons but they are meant to solo. 

Doing exclusive solo stuff.... for the vast majority of players it means doing easy content, relatively speaking. 

Easy content is .... well... easy.  Of course you going to solo that. 

The harder the content gets, the higher the difficulty, the more and more the support characters shine and start making the case that they truly are the kings and queens of the game. 

Elec Affinity defenders are at that top echelon of support when the difficulty it at or around the highest level of difficulty in the game. 

Learn it and enjoy it.  It is very rewarding to do so.  

Edited June 1, 2022 by Voltak

[Snarky]

I've heard it said by much better players than me that a Corruptor is pretty much the best team AT.  While you say damage is not a priority.... I would say "to you"  You can debuff and CC to your heart's content in many high end gaming sessions and it does Jack and Squat.  

 

After years of running almost exclusively Brutes and a random Dom here and there I started running Blasters about a year ago.  Then I slipped in one Corruptor.  Every time I pull out that Corruptor I am amazed how well it goes.  Not as much damage as the Blaster.  But I stay near the team and apply some debuff and CC and team heal if things slide sideways.  While being able to dish out punishing amounts of AoE with the rest of my time.

[Nemu]

Are you looking for the build/combo that can pull your team out of ridiculous situations but detract from your requirements or something that aligns with your requirements?

 

Debuff heavy

CC

Clear positioning and easy to define playstyle

Not too busy

 

Because the elec/elec defender path you are inquiring about fits none of those requirements. Electric affinity is a very busy but top tier set for buff/healing/survival, not debuffing. There's hardly any mass control in that combo aside from drain but that takes time to ramp up and mobs are most likely dead before you can achieve full drain.

 

Poison and TA are both debuff centric sets. Poison favors more melee play while TA leans more towards range play (although there is nothing stopping you from playing TA in melee either). Earth and Dark control both have a healthy amount of CCs, Earth control can be played both at range or in melee, Dark favors range. 

 

Alternatively for an even more passive but effective experience there's Ice/Poison controllers. Arctic Air and Venomous Gas allow you to do your job just by standing around mobs, toss in world of confusion from psionic mastery to stack confusion on mobs that get really close to you. Psi mastery also synergizes with the build because indomitable will makes sure your toggles don't drop. The drawbacks to the build are: 1 - end consumption, those toggles are expensive. 2 - late boomer, you really need to hit 38 for all the debuff pieces to fall into place.

 

I didn't list time, because the debuffs in time largely don't matter for improving kill speed. People pick time for powerboost + farsight which is potent, but in terms of strict debuff potential Poison and TA offer far more meaningful and more spammable debuffs. If you care more about personal survival then time is a good pick.

 

Traps is too slow, area debuffs on a long recharge also means you'll have a bit more work cut out for you dealing with sudden adds that aren't affected by your area debuffs. At least with a melee centric poison build you can still spam the first two debuffs, which are ranged, at ambushes/adds. You can't do that with traps. However because of Force Field Generator you can make a very sturdy Traps build.

 

TL:DR If you want to stick to your requirements, try /Poison or /TA controllers, my vote is Ice/Poison. Just watch your end bar, grab recovery serums and cardiac alpha if needed.

[KaizenSoze]

16 minutes ago, Nemu said:

There's hardly any mass control in that combo aside from drain but that takes time to ramp up and mobs are most likely dead before you can achieve full drain.

With all due respect. This is not true, I can drain +3 mobs, minions and lts at least, in one short circuit at 50.

 

Voltak has shown us how useful Clarion radial is for buffing electrical affinity powers.

 

I do agree that it can be an incredible busy set when the team is close to defeat.

[Voltak]

59 minutes ago, KaizenSoze said:

With all due respect. This is not true, I can drain +3 mobs, minions and lts at least, in one short circuit at 50.

 

Voltak has shown us how useful Clarion radial is for buffing electrical affinity powers.

 

I do agree that it can be an incredible busy set when the team is close to defeat.

Even at lvl 26 with only SOs, you can have mobs +3 , drained , boss included, very quickly.  I know for a fact as I grinded mine from 1 to 50. 

Anything that boosts your special abilities will usually buff your end drains. 

On one of my builds I don't even use short circuit and in combination with my two pets I can drain stuff very quickly, not a long time at all, especially since one of my pets all he does is AOE, no single target stuff. 

Also, how busy you are depends on how skilled and well-practiced you are, and what your routine is. 

When teams are hurt, of course, most buffing sets get busier than before.  

No one was stating that Elec Affinity is top tier for debuffing. 

I often wonder how many posters write stuff about combos they actually played in good length and in very challenging scenarios with a good degree of success. 

Lots of advice on the forums given by peeps who have no such experience as I noted in the sentence above. 

 

[SeraphimKensai]

Electric Control/ Cold Domination Controller.

 

You have a lot of easy to target aoes, chain knockdown, sap your enemies endurance which increases your survival. A reapplying sleep, good CC. With Cold Domination you have extra survivability, click based defense/res buffs for the team and frostwork, team stealth, 1 anchor toggle Debuff.

 

Damage isn't the greatest on this so it works way better on a team, and it acts as a force multiplier. Ancillary I would look at something like Leviathan or Primal to stack Clarion Radial with Powerboost to give essentially a super Debuff window where you can sap a GM and really layout some serious debuffs.

 

 

I saw you talk about Earth/Dark and Plant/TA as well. Earth/Dark does a great job as well for locking things down, and throwing on debuffs, damage is a little lackluster but overall a great team toon.

 

Plant/TA, I solo AVs and out damage your run of the mill blaster, so that will corrupt you away from team play, as you solo TF's.

Edited June 1, 2022 by SeraphimKensai

[Nemu]

The OP had very specific requirements in his ask. I see the discussion on EA as irrelevant for this ask as the set doesn't fit the OP's top 2 requirements. I'm not debating the potency of EA nor the speed at which one can drain, but I do find those conversations veering off track as to what the OP is asking for. 

 

Had the ask been "Post your favorite most OP support build" then yeah sure. I'll jump behind the EA train as I did here, back in 2020.

 

[Apparition]

Agreed.  Electrical Affinity is great and one of the best support sets, but it's clearly not what the OP is looking for.

[Voltak]

19 hours ago, purplereign said:

YESSS! I saw some posts by Voltak the other day! Super interesting! Def a good case for the pairing. How's the fun factor? 

 I was just servicing up the information as was expressed to me to be of interest by none other than the OP himself. 
Then I was just responding to comments made about that. 

Edited June 1, 2022 by Voltak

[Nemu]

Which is why I prefaced my first post with a question regarding his intent. It's all good. If he decides that he does want an OP support character than you've given him a lot of info to sink his teeth into.

 

Too often these posts devolve into subjective posts about personal preferences that veer way off track. I'm just doing my part in answering questions as they are asked 😁

[purplereign]

18 hours ago, iBot said:

No worries.  Go with whatever fits your theme.  Just be sure to report back once in a while to let us know what you decided and how it is going for ya.  Always like to hear how other players approach the game.  CoX is the definition of "It all works so have fun!"

 

And for the record, much like @Ukase mentioned, I welcome any character's buffs/debuffs but ultimately my characters are built to solo so all the support provides is not having to use an insp before an impossible fight.  😉

I will indeed! 

So far I'm looking at Elec/Elec Defender, and I'm intrigued by the following powersets:

Earth Control
Ice Control
Darkness Control
Poison
TA
Kin
Cold Dom
Thermal

[TygerDarkstorm]

15 hours ago, Ukase said:

My second thought is a cold/dark defender.  Cold has some good shields - which can offend folks who spend more time at the tailor than I do. They will insist you go to the tailor and minimize these effects as it covers their costumes. Avoid these people. They are silly. 
 

Sorry, slight tangent, but I took my Necro/Cold MM to a Frostfire team in the Hollows and had a fire blaster that literally spent time to turn my cold shields off of them every time I casted them; I presume because I didn't have the minimal effects turned on; everyone else on the team let em roll.

 

In regards to the OP: Cold Domination is a great set that seems like it fits what you're looking for.  My Ice/Rad controller has proven to be surprisingly effective and fun, though I know you said you don't want anchors and PBAoE buffs. However, might I suggest that you roll with the new style of buffing on the go? Even the targeted buffs are often hard to actually cast them on every teammate at one time as most people just take off and do their thing. So no matter what, you are stuck buffing as you move along. Frankly, asking people to gather for buffs is more of a hindrance as everyone has to stop and find said buffer; with the current meta, it's better if you just learn to cast your buffs on as many teammates as you can when they're ready to go.

 

Dark Control on controllers has a lot of fun tools for handling mobs, and pairs nicely with pretty much any of the support secondaries. (I have a dark/storm and dark/elec).

 

The discussion happening here regarding elec/elec defenders makes me wonder if I should reroll my elec/elec corruptor, lol.

[purplereign]

16 hours ago, biostem said:

I really like playing my kinetics/sonic blast defender;  Plenty of buffs, debuffs, healing, end, a cone sleep, a single target stun, and that's not counting your epic or patron power pool choice.

My only concern with Kin (and I've been KINsidering it a lot haha) is that it's good up to a super point and then is largely wasted with teams that hit power cap. FS serves zero purpose at that point and a lot of Kin value goes down, I think.

Not sure how accurate that is, but from what I've read, that seems to be the case.

[biostem]

2 minutes ago, purplereign said:

My only concern with Kin (and I've been KINsidering it a lot haha) is that it's good up to a super point and then is largely wasted with teams that hit power cap. FS serves zero purpose at that point and a lot of Kin value goes down, I think.

Not sure how accurate that is, but from what I've read, that seems to be the case.

I tend to play with more casually put together teams, so I can't speak on how frequently people are reaching the damage cap on their own, but fulcrum shift is not the only power in the set, and many folks I've teamed with are thankful to have SB and ID kept on them.  Either way, you can always leverage the -res in sonic blast, and don't underestimate the utility of siren's call, (especially with the team accidentally aggros another group)...

[purplereign]

15 hours ago, Sovereigne said:

My main is a dark/time controller. She’s my favorite character to lead teams with because even if everyone else is level 1 she can tank most enemy groups at +4 and give the team a ton of +tohit so they feel like they’re doing something. Lots of proc opportunities in both sets if you feel like your damage is low, and the -tohit from dark control is an underrated pseudo-defense buff to your whole team on top of Farsight. I think this combo has just about everything you're wanting...

 

Debuffs: Slowed Response is easy to get on a short cooldown and can take an Achilles -res proc for massive AOE -res and -def. Time's Juncture is amazing too. Everything in Dark/ does -tohit. 

 

CC: Dark Control is one of the better control sets IMO and Shadow Field stacks very nicely with Distortion Field. Time Stop also means you can instant-hold bosses which is a weakness of controllers otherwise. The pet is not the greatest but has a lot of cone attacks - slotting an Overwhelming Force knockdown proc gives you a ton of extra soft control on top of your AOE hold, stun, and fear.

 

Mid-level maintenance: Farsight and Chrono Shift are up every 90-120 seconds. Temporal Selection is your single-target buff which has a long-ish recharge too so you only need to click it every minute or so.

 

Damage: Heart of Darkness is one of the best proc bombs in the game and can become a huge nuke. Slowed Response also takes multiple damage procs. I have my ST hold slotted with 5 procs since otherwise ST damage is lacking in this build.

 

Clear position: You do have a cone in Fearsome Stare (and the immob if you need it) but everything else can be done from melee, meaning you only need to open with the cone and then jump into the enemies for the rest of the fight. This is less annoying than it sounds since the couple seconds you spend casting the fear gives your melees time to grab aggro so you should never die.

 

Buffing: Farsight/Chrono Shift are PBAOEs so you're not going to hit everyone every time, but it's not the end of the world since you do so many other things with these powersets to keep your time alive and healthy.

 

 

This is a phenomenal response, and one I greatly appreciate. 

 

My first 50 on HC was actually a Time/DP defender, and I've since moved away from Time for no real reason. I think my gripes at the time were that it was quite setup heavy (which could largely be negated by Dark openers) and that I believed (which appears to be wrong) that it was a far more effective set as a Defender primary, numerically speaking. 

This is a sick combination though.  I've heard a lot of people say that Darkness Control is a premier control set, not just for having one of the best AoE holds, but because it has the innate -ToHit, and no other control set boasts a debuff that valuable. 

Thank you so, so much for taking the time to articulate the points as it relates to my priority, too. This is so helpful. 

Not to ask more of you, but any chance you have a build or something I could wrap my head around as far as power selection goes? Time is a hefty one, so you are probably pretty limited in choices for other pool sets. 

Lastly, how tanky do you feel? I know you mentioned being able to fearsome stare and jump in (which I like the sound of), but do I have to fear getting melted? I like being a tanky support

[purplereign]

11 hours ago, Guffnat said:

 

I have similar experience with my Ice/Time Controller. With Arctic Air and Times Juncture running I can teleport into spawns and just sit there and laugh. I am currently testing Ice/Elec (for the awesome status protection) and Elec/Elec controller because Jolting Chain and Static Field are awesome. Can't decide which one I like more.

Funny enough, Ice/Time was certainly something I was considering for a hot minute. In fact, I think I still have an old build from the forums dubbed, "the wall" because nothing gets past ice/time hahahaha.

I also really like the idea of ice/elec. Elec Affin feels very busy and Ice... well, Ice isn't. Would love to hear your thoughts on this stuff. Generally, I don't feel like Ice/Elec has any natural synergy. Just two good sets.

Also, for what it's worth, is Elec Affin good as a secondary? Everyone I see who champions Elec Affin talk about it specifically as a Def primary.

[purplereign]

10 hours ago, Voltak said:

I will post the build in the same section, same thread,   where the video is posted. 

Also, as you learn to use and manage Elec Affinity, you will learn patterns and sequences, you will learn when and when not to use certain powers and you will learn movement or how and when to position yourself. 

Then you will just react, you will fire off your sequence and then back to blasting, or sometimes just waiting. 

I recorded the highest level of 801s possible in the game yesterday.   

I will post that as well. 

I will place the build as well in that same thread. 

Let me mention some things about what others say about your buffs are welcome for their toons but they are meant to solo. 

Doing exclusive solo stuff.... for the vast majority of players it means doing easy content, relatively speaking. 

Easy content is .... well... easy.  Of course you going to solo that. 

The harder the content gets, the higher the difficulty, the more and more the support characters shine and start making the case that they truly are the kings and queens of the game. 

Elec Affinity defenders are at that top echelon of support when the difficulty it at or around the highest level of difficulty in the game. 

Learn it and enjoy it.  It is very rewarding to do so.  

I'm definitely looking forward to you posting the build so I can wrap my head around what your prioritize for powers and slots. I appreciate your breakdown and perspective on Elec Affinity and certainly understand the importance of comfort and knowledge. It does, currently, feel very very busy, but I'm also probably using abilities I don't need to use on CD just for the sake of using them. 

One last point, which I don't even think matters here, is that I never ever plan to solo hahahaha

[purplereign]

9 hours ago, Snarky said:

I've heard it said by much better players than me that a Corruptor is pretty much the best team AT.  While you say damage is not a priority.... I would say "to you"  You can debuff and CC to your heart's content in many high end gaming sessions and it does Jack and Squat.  

 

After years of running almost exclusively Brutes and a random Dom here and there I started running Blasters about a year ago.  Then I slipped in one Corruptor.  Every time I pull out that Corruptor I am amazed how well it goes.  Not as much damage as the Blaster.  But I stay near the team and apply some debuff and CC and team heal if things slide sideways.  While being able to dish out punishing amounts of AoE with the rest of my time.

It's certainly an appreciated point, and one I understand well, especially as it relates to viewing your contributions to a team from a different light.

I actually have a grossly slotted Ice/Cold corr, and I feel very, very strong. The approach I'm looking for on this end is a bit more "hard" control/debuffing, so that my team feels more in control. 

Corrs are darn fun though.

[purplereign]

8 hours ago, Nemu said:

Are you looking for the build/combo that can pull your team out of ridiculous situations but detract from your requirements or something that aligns with your requirements?

 

Debuff heavy

CC

Clear positioning and easy to define playstyle

Not too busy

 

Because the elec/elec defender path you are inquiring about fits none of those requirements. Electric affinity is a very busy but top tier set for buff/healing/survival, not debuffing. There's hardly any mass control in that combo aside from drain but that takes time to ramp up and mobs are most likely dead before you can achieve full drain.

 

Poison and TA are both debuff centric sets. Poison favors more melee play while TA leans more towards range play (although there is nothing stopping you from playing TA in melee either). Earth and Dark control both have a healthy amount of CCs, Earth control can be played both at range or in melee, Dark favors range. 

 

Alternatively for an even more passive but effective experience there's Ice/Poison controllers. Arctic Air and Venomous Gas allow you to do your job just by standing around mobs, toss in world of confusion from psionic mastery to stack confusion on mobs that get really close to you. Psi mastery also synergizes with the build because indomitable will makes sure your toggles don't drop. The drawbacks to the build are: 1 - end consumption, those toggles are expensive. 2 - late boomer, you really need to hit 38 for all the debuff pieces to fall into place.

 

I didn't list time, because the debuffs in time largely don't matter for improving kill speed. People pick time for powerboost + farsight which is potent, but in terms of strict debuff potential Poison and TA offer far more meaningful and more spammable debuffs. If you care more about personal survival then time is a good pick.

 

Traps is too slow, area debuffs on a long recharge also means you'll have a bit more work cut out for you dealing with sudden adds that aren't affected by your area debuffs. At least with a melee centric poison build you can still spam the first two debuffs, which are ranged, at ambushes/adds. You can't do that with traps. However because of Force Field Generator you can make a very sturdy Traps build.

 

TL:DR If you want to stick to your requirements, try /Poison or /TA controllers, my vote is Ice/Poison. Just watch your end bar, grab recovery serums and cardiac alpha if needed.

I really appreciate your breakdowns and descriptions. You are actually very in-tune with what I'm looking at. 

Ice, Dark, and Earth are the control specs I've been looking at most

and /TA and /Poison are the secondaries I've been looking at most... Largely for the reasons you've outlined. I have a TA defender at the moment, mid-20s that feels extremely good to play so far. I met an Earth/TA troller yesterday that gushed about their love for the powerset combo. Frankly, and don't roast me for this, that combination feels a tad... overkill? I know that's somewhat antithetical to what I'm looking for, but I guess what I'm trying to say is... there are TOO many control powers, that in 95% of situations, I simply wouldn't be able to get all of them off. Ice/Poison seems more manageable and interesting and I like the idea of playing in melee with that combo. 

Given this, what other combos would you consider (though I'm seriously on board with Ice/Poison)?

Earth/Poison?
Dark/Poison?
Earth/TA?
Ice/TA?

[purplereign]

6 hours ago, Voltak said:

Even at lvl 26 with only SOs, you can have mobs +3 , drained , boss included, very quickly.  I know for a fact as I grinded mine from 1 to 50. 

Anything that boosts your special abilities will usually buff your end drains. 

On one of my builds I don't even use short circuit and in combination with my two pets I can drain stuff very quickly, not a long time at all, especially since one of my pets all he does is AOE, no single target stuff. 

Also, how busy you are depends on how skilled and well-practiced you are, and what your routine is. 

When teams are hurt, of course, most buffing sets get busier than before.  

No one was stating that Elec Affinity is top tier for debuffing. 

I often wonder how many posters write stuff about combos they actually played in good length and in very challenging scenarios with a good degree of success. 

Lots of advice on the forums given by peeps who have no such experience as I noted in the sentence above. 

 

I'm actually wondering if you can help me with a common topic that I've discussed at length and has been a subject of debate for as long as I can remember.

In short, I've always been under the impression that end drain is a subpar way to focus a build because mobs require the smallest pixel of blue to be able to use abilities again. So, while you can drain them to zero, any tick of end regen means the end drain is somewhat wasted.

Is that... true? false? Poorly explained?

[purplereign]

4 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Electric Control/ Cold Domination Controller.

 

You have a lot of easy to target aoes, chain knockdown, sap your enemies endurance which increases your survival. A reapplying sleep, good CC. With Cold Domination you have extra survivability, click based defense/res buffs for the team and frostwork, team stealth, 1 anchor toggle Debuff.

 

Damage isn't the greatest on this so it works way better on a team, and it acts as a force multiplier. Ancillary I would look at something like Leviathan or Primal to stack Clarion Radial with Powerboost to give essentially a super Debuff window where you can sap a GM and really layout some serious debuffs.

 

 

I saw you talk about Earth/Dark and Plant/TA as well. Earth/Dark does a great job as well for locking things down, and throwing on debuffs, damage is a little lackluster but overall a great team toon.

 

Plant/TA, I solo AVs and out damage your run of the mill blaster, so that will corrupt you away from team play, as you solo TF's.

It's funny you mention it, I actually have an Electric/Cold Troller. I was really into it at one point, and quite really remember why I stopped playing it. I've always felt that Electric Control was an underrated set, and you could do some pretty interesting things with it. 

I'm actually not super worried about damage output as I never really intend to solo. 

That being said, I'm very curious to hear more about your Plant/TA. I've been considering this combination. I've been wary about Flash's -ToHit and it's interaction with SoC. Thoughts?

Plant/TA sounds very fun.

[purplereign]

25 minutes ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

Sorry, slight tangent, but I took my Necro/Cold MM to a Frostfire team in the Hollows and had a fire blaster that literally spent time to turn my cold shields off of them every time I casted them; I presume because I didn't have the minimal effects turned on; everyone else on the team let em roll.

 

In regards to the OP: Cold Domination is a great set that seems like it fits what you're looking for.  My Ice/Rad controller has proven to be surprisingly effective and fun, though I know you said you don't want anchors and PBAoE buffs. However, might I suggest that you roll with the new style of buffing on the go? Even the targeted buffs are often hard to actually cast them on every teammate at one time as most people just take off and do their thing. So no matter what, you are stuck buffing as you move along. Frankly, asking people to gather for buffs is more of a hindrance as everyone has to stop and find said buffer; with the current meta, it's better if you just learn to cast your buffs on as many teammates as you can when they're ready to go.

 

Dark Control on controllers has a lot of fun tools for handling mobs, and pairs nicely with pretty much any of the support secondaries. (I have a dark/storm and dark/elec).

 

The discussion happening here regarding elec/elec defenders makes me wonder if I should reroll my elec/elec corruptor, lol.

That's a HILARIOUS story (sorry!) about the blast hahahaha. I definitely got a good chuckle.

Cold Dom is a beast, and a well appreciated recommendation. It really is, in my opinion, an S-tier defender set. The buffs are easy to maintain, and Benumb/Sleet/Heat Loss has to be one of the best trifectas of debuffing powers any set can boast. I just... I don't know if I find it super fun? Is that weird? Like it checks off so many boxes, but I'm dumb I guess. Maybe I just need to really, really give it the time it needs to shine.

I actually rolled a Dark/Storm recently, but it's only mid-20s, so far from being able to tell if it's something I'd like. What do you think of Dark/Elec? 

And yes, Elec/Elec defender is dope and I got mine to high 20s yesterday and the impact is tangible. I can feel my value to my team, but it is certainly offset by feeling pretty busy.