ISO - a Controller Sommelier

[Bellicose]

Yeah. It's a power I regularly use on my Ill/Rad. I feel like a dunce for forgetting it so completely during these tests. 

[EnjoyTheJourney]

Ah, I probably overdid the advice then. You seemed to dislike illusion, and so I mistakenly ended up concluding that you didn't have much experience with the set. My bad on that. 

[Bellicose]

14 minutes ago, EnjoyTheJourney said:

Ah, I probably overdid the advice then. You seemed to dislike illusion, and so I mistakenly ended up concluding that you didn't have much experience with the set. My bad on that. 

 

No worries. It's good advice, and the community benefits from it. While this thread may be targeted at helping me out, I hope that anyone who reads it may benefit from it. 

[Bionic_Flea]

20 hours ago, Bellicose said:

Also, settled into Sorcery (Arcane Bolt, Mystic Flight and Rune), Speed (Hasten), Teleportation (Combat Teleport) and Leadership (Maneuvers, Tactics, and others based on space in build).

 

With Arcane Flight you automatically get Translocation, which is a nifty teleport power.  I use a bind that teleports me to my target or to max distance in the direction I am looking if there is no target.  That lets me pop in to the middle of a group to drop a big PBAoE, go straight to a glowie I can see while avoiding all mobs, TP right to an ally to heal/buff/rez, or travel quickly across a zone.  I use the mouse scroll button.

 

/bind mbutton, "powexec_location camera:max Translocation$$powexec_location target Translocation"

 

All that to say, you could use Translocation, Skip Combat TP, and grab something else.

[Bellicose]

1 hour ago, Bionic_Flea said:

 

With Arcane Flight you automatically get Translocation, which is a nifty teleport power.  I use a bind that teleports me to my target or to max distance in the direction I am looking if there is no target.  That lets me pop in to the middle of a group to drop a big PBAoE, go straight to a glowie I can see while avoiding all mobs, TP right to an ally to heal/buff/rez, or travel quickly across a zone.  I use the mouse scroll button.

 

/bind mbutton, "powexec_location camera:max Translocation$$powexec_location target Translocation"

 

All that to say, you could use Translocation, Skip Combat TP, and grab something else.

 

Yes, realized that last night while I was testing. This leaves me with a level 49 power open. I'd prefer it to be a mule for LotG. That leaves me Hover, Vengeance, Combat Jumping or something from the Concealment pool. Not sure if there are any advantages to any of those. Also need to pick out an Interface Incarnate power.

 

Also, I wanted to thank @Without_Pause; @mistagoat; @EnjoyTheJourney; @Onlyasandwich; @Bionic_Flea; @Argentae; and @Panache for all your help this week.

I did retest Ill/Dark last night (using Spectral Terror, as I should have been doing from outset) and it was an improved outcome. 

However, I also built and tested Plant/Dark. This set was faster than Fire/Dark in the Trapdoor tests, and reasonable against a Pylon. Additionally, it just felt more in line with my style of play. I realize that I lean into set bonuses, perhaps, more than is wise, when there there are more proc heavy builds that have higher levels of achievement. Nevertheless, I feel pretty confident that this set will serve me very well.

 

And, thus, Mycella was created on Excelsior this morning.

Thanks again!

Edited August 25, 2023 by Bellicose

[Onlyasandwich]

8 minutes ago, Bellicose said:

Mycella

Great name, and an excellent combo! 

[Bionic_Flea]

I almost always take Combat jumping as my first power pool pick.  At very low levels it adds a lot of movement, a bit of defense, a great place to slot uniques, and all for negligible endurance cost.

 

PS - I wonder if another Plant/Dark already claimed Nightshade.

Edited August 25, 2023 by Bionic_Flea

[Panache]

11 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

I almost always take Combat jumping as my first power pool pick.  At very low levels it adds a lot of movement, a bit of defense, a great place to slot uniques, and all for negligible endurance cost.

 

PS - I wonder if another Plant/Dark already claimed Nightshade.

 

Like for real, whenever I exemp on a character that picked up CJ later than the level I'm exemped too, it feels downright unplayable.

[Bellicose]

Would that Combat Jumping have an impact of play if I had taken Mystic Flight early?

[EnjoyTheJourney]

I find combat jumping very useful because I tend to find running mystic flight all the time hard on my characters' end bars. But, it's difficult to say for certain whether or not you'd get much use out of combat jumping. If end is consistently in a good place (which for /dark in particular may be true), you're really good with the translocation bind, and you're comfortable with dropping down temporarily to drop poison trap then perhaps combat jumping will only serve as a mule for a unique IO and a bit of extra defense at a very low endurance cost. 

 

But, perhaps with the last power pick a slot for a helpful IO and a bit of extra defense at a very low endurance cost wouldn't be a bad choice. Or it would be a bad choice. Not sure. 

Mycella seems like a great pick / find for a character name. Hopefully your controller ends up being a lot of fun to play.

Edited August 25, 2023 by EnjoyTheJourney

[Bionic_Flea]

Even when flying, CJ helps with maneuverability.

 

[Argentae]

Nightshade is a great name. 🙂

 

Combat Jumping is very often a part of my Defense / LotG solution, but I’ve found myself leaning more and more to Hover/Fly/Evasive Maneuvers. I tend to take Hover early for the same basic reasons https://forums.homecomingservers.com/profile/71263-bionic_flea/ mentioned. 
Hover + Evasive is two Def powers and gives amazing positioning control for lining up cones, and it’s a lot faster than might be expected. I think it’s like 43 mph at 50 with just the single slot in Swift slotted for fly.

 

The defense in Evasive is not particularly, but the heavy immob protection and raw 3d movement capability is very useful. 
 

I absolutely love the negligible end cost of CJ though,  and it is a GREAT early build mobility and Def power as mentioned.

 

[SeraphimKensai]

Based on the criteria....for a new toon it's between plant/dark or plant/cold.

 

You already have a dark/cold, which should be able to meet your criteria, otherwise don't sleep on the plant/ta either, mine is a beast.

[Faelia]

I enjoyed my symph/dark when I played it

symphony.mxd

[Ringo]

I see you've already chosen the pairing for you but I do want to throw in my usual plug for Plant/Storm.  Roots is an AoE immobilize that keeps mobs from scattering (which is helpful for getting the most out of Seeds of Confusion) but also lets them flop around from Sleet/Tornado/Lightning Storm.  Plant/Storm's two shortcomings are 1)End Management (Pumping out Lightning Storm while running Steamy Mist and Hurricane adds up quick) and slow TTK on hard single targets.  You'll never appreciate Confusion more than when you see how much damage is lost when the minions are dead and no longer wailing on that EB.  While my playstyle of "controlled chaos" may still be too chaotic for your tastes, Plant is one of the best sets to mitigate /Storm's chaotic nature.

 

I'll also second Illusion/Traps.  Phantom Army allows you to do all of your trap setting in peace even in active combat and Traps has some massive debuffs plus everyone's favorite - force field generator - for mez protection.  My live main was ill/ff and ill/traps beats it hands down.  I've tanked AND debuffed Rommie in the ITF and had a dance party while doing it.  Adding a KB to KD IO to Phantasm is just icing on an already stacked cake.  I do miss the (very) old days of having 3 Phantasms though.  So much KB!

 

Again, might not be suited to your playstyle, but it's something different, fun, and viable

[Riverdusk]

On 8/22/2023 at 11:20 AM, Bellicose said:

@mistagoat Perma-Fade! I don't know why that wasn't more on my mind. A strong point for Darkness.

 

@EnjoyTheJourney Is Phantasm the source of knockback? I thought all of Phantom Army did that. Also, which Sorcery powers. That's a pool I've never used. 

 

See this mistaken belief all the time.   You probably figured it out already by now, but no, phantom army doesn't do knockback.  Phantasm alone does, and why I always stick an overwhelming force IO in him.  

 

The new dom version of illusion I think does have some knockdown (looks like at low enough mag to usually be knockdown and not knockback from peeking at CoD), as the pets work completely differently for them.   

 

For controller though, I don't find illusion chaotic at all.

 

[bustacap]

IN 4 star content:

 

I feel Hot feet drew way to much agro in Aeon 4 star. Drummer kicked me in the head 1 shotting me at least 3 times

 

Sure /dark is /dark but it just feels lackluster in aeon as all defenses need barrier anyway.

 

Ill is good. Invulnerable pets can tank several Avs Vanguards, if not doing tank in ceiling trick, and ITF clones bust if they target PA. 

 

 

[myssing]

@Bellicose This thread inspired me to roll a plant/dark.   Plant/Storm didn't work out for me, but I enjoyed plant, and I have a long term love for dark.

 

Once you get Mycella where you like, could you share your build?  It would be very helpful to point me in the right direction for sets.

[Scarlet Shocker]

Just a few thoughts;

 

Plant/TA is a great controller combo. I note you've done something similar already so maybe Plant/Traps?

 

Earth/Thermal is a fantastic support controller, and you can do a lot solo but you might find it too slow, but when teaming it can offer a great boost to all participants

 

Dark/Poison is lethal. You can have a lot of fun with it, and it's tough and durable while making enemies melt nicely.

[Thraxen]

Play I’ll/storm if you want a lot of chaos.