What next for my Controller project?

[Scarlet Shocker]

I've played almost all the primaries to 50, with only 2 exceptions, where I've dabbled but not gone all the way; Gravity and Ice Control.

 

As far as secondaries I've never really gone far with Empathy, Forcefield, Pain Domination & Nature, Electrical or Dark Affinity.

 

I LOATHE Sonic Resonance as a power and Forcefield seems pretty redundant in the game these days

 

Of course there's 160 odd combinations of potential controllers as things stand currently, so I'm thinking I'd enjoy something a bit different, I just can't think of what, nor a theme to go with it.

 

So... over to you; What should I play, why and where would it fit in this rich pantheon of Heroes, Villains, Rogues and Vigilantes?

[Lhanis]

While I don't have any combinations or themes to point you at that you might enjoy, I will say that if you haven't played Dark Affinity you should definitely take a crack at it. It's a fantastic set, both the best version of Dark Miasma AND imo the best support option a controller has available. Fade and Soul Absorption absolutely are worth the loss of the ST hold and Fearsome Stare from Misma. You end up providing AoE Rez, -500% regen, -res and slow field, infinite End, a frankly massive +Def to all as well as a handful of +Res, with the fluffy pet and stealth field as icing on the cake. They're also all easily made perma or very close to it (Fade can be tricky to get there).

 

Forcefield is also a lot better than it was, and it's a keystone for things like 4* content. It's more than just +Def bubbles now, providing a slew of debuffs and the amazing new T9 which creates a zone of fantastic buffs, and a slew of debuffs for the enemies as well.

 

As for the control sets, I don't have any experience with Grav. Ice is a lot of fun to play with, but I see it as more of a Dom set as they get quite a bit more out of Arctic Air via domination, and want to be in melee for their assault secondary anyway. Jack never felt like a great pet, either, but that might just be personal preference. I've been spoiled by Umbra Beast and Fire Imps, who can put out surprisingly well despite Controller's dps limitations.

 

Just my 2c, hope this helps!

[Without_Pause]

I find Gravity an okay set. I know Ice doesn't get much love, but I would likely be more tempted to try it versus doing Grav again. I'm just confirming what has said above. If you haven't done Dark, do so. In the case of Ice/dark, Dark will support your end bar which Ice will try to murder. It really shouldn't be difficult to come up with theme for those two sets either. 

[Ringo]

Ice/Electric gets you the name THUNDERSNOW which I feel is a big selling point

 

Grav/Dark gets you DARK HOLE ...which is potentially less of a selling point, I'll admit

[roleki]

If you're looking for combos that have a lot of synergy, I would suggest Grav/Storm or Ice/Trick Arrow. 

 

Grav/Storm gives you plenty of tools to move mobs where you want them, and where you want them is right under your Lightning Storm(s).  With so many powers that take FF+Rech, you can pretty much spend combat at 300% recharge and chunk out 3x Lightning Storms at a time, which will help you melt pretty much anything you'd expect to as Controller and some stuff you wouldn't expect.

 

Ice/TA was sneaky strong before HC tweaked both sets, now it's even better.  Stacked slows, single-target holds and KD patches down both sides... Confusion and Fear out of Ice makes mob AI go bananas... then there's all the debuffs out of TA.  If you appreciate soft control, Ice/TA is your spirit animal.

[Uun]

Nature is also really good. ST -res/-dmg, cone heal, resist/regen buff, absorb shield, -tohit/-dmg toggle, hold aura, and dmg/tohit/end buff. All the buffs are AoE and work on the caster. My only caveat is that if you go with Ice primary, Entangling Aura won't play nice with Arctic Air.

[Frozen Burn]

Earth/Nature/Stone is a beast and fun to play.  I've tanked many TFs with the build.  SO much AOE control to lock things down, it's crazy good.  🙂  

 

Additionally, Ice/Cold is very good as well.  And now that it's winter event, I'm sure you can come up with a theme.  😄  

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by Frozen Burn

[Doomguide2005]

     Had to chuckle when you said you LOATHE Sonic Resonance because as it happens I've started to level a Fire/Sonic.  Granted it's part of a themed SG teaming project where you must have a damage aura and it was similarly a pairing I ran briefly on Live and was also part of a themed static group with friends where we were all Fire/Sonic.  The idea of multiple Disruption Fields and Siphons debuffing the heck out of the foes while Hot Feet and a swarm of Imps burned everything was the general idea.  And the Resistance shields seemed a little more useful when everyone is soft capped to defense.

     Thought about Grav/Traps.  Wormhole into a field of traps.  Add Fold Space for more to yoink into death.  Probably works best solo though.

[Bellicose]

On 12/9/2023 at 9:23 AM, Lhanis said:

<snip> I will say that if you haven't played Dark Affinity you should definitely take a crack at it. It's a fantastic set, both the best version of Dark Miasma AND imo the best support option a controller has available. Fade and Soul Absorption absolutely are worth the loss of the ST hold and Fearsome Stare from Misma. You end up providing AoE Rez, -500% regen, -res and slow field, infinite End, a frankly massive +Def to all as well as a handful of +Res, with the fluffy pet and stealth field as icing on the cake. They're also all easily made perma or very close to it (Fade can be tricky to get there). <snip>

 

I would echo this completely. Dark Miasma is not just a powerhouse, it's fun to play. My preferential pairing with it ended up being Plant Control, but I looked (and tested) very seriously with Fire, Illusion and Symphony and they were all strong choices. Now if you're you're specifically limiting your choices to Gravity or Ice, I would definitely suggest Ice Control.  Ice/Dark was my "go to Controller" until I made Plant Dark. Ice/Dark was a surprisingly strong choice when I initially made it and it got stronger 16 months ago when they updated Ice Control. I imagine it would be even stronger if I took the time to revisit it and rebuild to better leverage the changes as well as what I've learned about Dark Miasma in the last few months,

[Riverdusk]

21 hours ago, Doomguide2005 said:

     Had to chuckle when you said you LOATHE Sonic Resonance because as it happens I've started to level a Fire/Sonic.  Granted it's part of a themed SG teaming project where you must have a damage aura and it was similarly a pairing I ran briefly on Live and was also part of a themed static group with friends where we were all Fire/Sonic.  The idea of multiple Disruption Fields and Siphons debuffing the heck out of the foes while Hot Feet and a swarm of Imps burned everything was the general idea.  And the Resistance shields seemed a little more useful when everyone is soft capped to defense.

     Thought about Grav/Traps.  Wormhole into a field of traps.  Add Fold Space for more to yoink into death.  Probably works best solo though.

 

Only /sonic I ever enjoyed was a necro/sonic MM.  Going all in on the resistance buffs it turned the zombies into absolute tanks (80%+ resistance to most things), they had their own tohit debuffs for defense, and their own healing as well as me getting my own heal.  Disruption field worked well on a grave knight.   I found it very impressive, and that was even before necro got buffed as a set.

 

Fire/sonic might work well though, especially if you have multiple like you said.

[Scarlet Shocker]

Ice/TA

 

Hmmmm

 

Ice/TA....

 

Ice

 

TA

 

ICE TA

 

Iced Tea, EH?

 

 

[Scarlet Shocker]

sorry for the above but it leapt off the page at me. I can see how it could have some great synergy and low key devastation (if that's not a complete contradiction)

 

But I do love some of your other suggestions.

 

I am coincidentally running a Plant/DA whcih is interesting but I was struggling to work out what powers to take so thanks especially to Lhanis.

 

I might be tempted to go for FF - I shall have to read more.

 

Grav/Storm... mmmmm I do like storm but I've typically used it to keep foes at bay so...

 

Keep 'em coming folks and thanks for your input thus far!

[Lhanis]

Plant/Dark should be a lot of fun! Creepers are absolutely phenomenal loaded up with procs, due to the weird way the game is coded to trigger the Vines effect off of them. They and Tarpatch together can clear entire spawns with two clicks! Hilarious to watch, too 😁

[Scarlet Shocker]

7 hours ago, Lhanis said:

Plant/Dark should be a lot of fun! Creepers are absolutely phenomenal loaded up with procs, due to the weird way the game is coded to trigger the Vines effect off of them. They and Tarpatch together can clear entire spawns with two clicks! Hilarious to watch, too 😁

 

I must research Dark Affinity. I might be interested in taking it to other builds too

[Doomguide2005]

21 hours ago, Riverdusk said:

 

Only /sonic I ever enjoyed was a necro/sonic MM.  Going all in on the resistance buffs it turned the zombies into absolute tanks (80%+ resistance to most things), they had their own tohit debuffs for defense, and their own healing as well as me getting my own heal.  Disruption field worked well on a grave knight.   I found it very impressive, and that was even before necro got buffed as a set.

 

Fire/sonic might work well though, especially if you have multiple like you said.

Yeah three things I'm noting so far as issues.  This all while leveling and primarily on SOs only.  First is the pairing makes end use (2.08 end/sec on 3 main toggles) on a Stormy look pretty modest by comparison.  Will see how that improves with IO sets and specials.  Second is it's a bit like any resist based mitigation everything hits and this is no Tanker with lots of health and end issues means running yet another relatively expensive (0.52 end/sec) toggle for mez protection (or get hit and mezzed, included above as one of the three toggles).  So far this adds up to a very squishy support character.  On the otherhand I do have solo 24-7 mez protection if desired.  3rd and last the Imps well they are no Rocky (or Jack or pretty much any other pet).  Haven't reached them yet (next level I'm thinking) but solo not sure how well they'll stand up to punishment and therefore be able to support Disruption Field successfully.  Hopefully between IOs and teaming rather than solo things will smooth out somewhat and end usage will get tolerable.  I'm definitely in the don't like to rely on Ageless or Cardiac to solve endurance issues camp (I exemp far too much) but will see.

[Uun]

I tried Fire/Sonic briefly back on live but abandoned it. I currently have a Fire/Nature that runs Hot Feet + Entangling Aura (+Spore Cloud as needed). While it doesn't have mezz protection, I feel Nature offers better tools for keeping both you and the Imps alive.

[Without_Pause]

Fire screams needing End support so I would go /time, /dark, or /kin as well. There might be some others, but those stand out to me. At some point I need to do a minor tweak for slotting on my Fire/time and finish off Incarnates. 

[Doomguide2005]

5 hours ago, Without_Pause said:

Fire screams needing End support so I would go /time, /dark, or /kin as well. There might be some others, but those stand out to me. At some point I need to do a minor tweak for slotting on my Fire/time and finish off Incarnates. 

Agreed it could use end support ... but it's the masochistic combo I've picked then added pain on top not just Fire.  Hot Feet is 1.04 end/sec.  Disruption Field and Dispersion Bubble each cost 0.52 end/sec.  Then I've added both Maneuvers and Tactics to the mix so far.  It's a lot of toggle endurance to sustain.  Good thing is I can use the rest at my leisure and stuff just dies in the vicinity.  Going to be lots of IO choices involving +recovery, +endurance and endurance discounts.

[Scarlet Shocker]

I'm very unlikely to choose Fire.

I did have (still do) a Fire/TA which was pretty solid but it's not a set I especially enjoy. Fire/Kins and /Rads kinda put me off it by their ubiquity

[Carnifax]

Grav / TA was my Live "Everyone says the sets are meh but I disagree" build. The Homecoming version is excellent. 

 

Ice / Traps with is surprisingly fun, but on fast teams you can feel a little left behind. I've a bit of a loopy build which is Ice / Traps / Earth with Fold Space and Enflame (which goes on Jack but isn't amazing, it's first for the chopping block if I respec) but is missing Shiver / Cold Snap. 

 

If I was going Fire I think I'd opt for Fire / Nature. Gets the Hotfeet + a Hold aura combo and you can buff up your insane fire munkies. 

[SeraphimKensai]

Some suggestions from my controllers

• Elec Control/Dark Affinity and Elec/Poison are really fun combos if you like mez and debuffs. They mitigate a ton of damage.
• Ice/TA or Ice/Poison would work well.
• Fire/Elec -faraday cage with your imps and hot feet, welcome to the thunder dome.
• Grav/Storm is an amazing combo that is all about positioning mobs into their death.
• Plant/Nature works well, but it's hard to pick a bad secondary for plant control.

I play a lot of controllers, I think I have maybe 20-25ish at 50, plus a plant/storm and a fire/trick arrow in the leveling hopper currently.

 

I can't think of a controller combo I've payed that I hated to be honest so I have no doubt you'd be able to find a new combo that you enjoy.

[Panache]

From the OP list of sets you haven't dived into, I like Grav/Dark. My favorite thing to do with that toon is find some part of the map (the 'open pipes' in the sewers work best) and Wormhole a mob into it, alongside Singy and Fluffy, with Darkest Night and Enflame.

[serxiom]

These are my controllers (ranked best from top to bottom)

 

- Plant/Traps. Can Solo AVs and GMs

- Ill/Storm. Can Solo AVs and GMs

- Earth/Nature. Can Solo AVs ans some GMs

- Mind/TA. Perfect for TFs Sfs and anykind of end content

- Ice/Poison Excellent for teaming and end content

- Grav/Dark Great for any team content

- Elec/Elec Aff team booster and tanks best friend

- Dark/Time mass debuffer and team buffer

 

All of them are fun to play. Some of them like Plant or Ill are set for high challenging content. 

[HelenCarnate]

On 12/13/2023 at 3:45 AM, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

I must research Dark Affinity. I might be interested in taking it to other builds too

Fire/Dark is also a lot of fun.  Dark has the defense boost where you can stand in the middle of groups and burn them down with hot feet, while they flop around with kb to kd slotted in Bonfire.  Turns spawns into burning popcorn. 

[twozerofoxtrot]

If you're interested in a rarely seen combo that is very effective even without advanced slotting, consider Symph/Dark. Once Dark Regen comes online, it's an absolute powerhouse. 

 

 

On 12/8/2023 at 3:13 AM, Scarlet Shocker said:

Forcefield seems pretty redundant in the game these days

 

FF is a great soloing set despite the common focus on the two buffing bubbles.

 

A very sturdy mid-level soloist is Grav/FF. A classic combo but with big improvements thanks to HC, since you can Wormhole into Singy, then you drop an AoE -Res with Force Bomb and go to work melting the mob down. Meanwhile Dispersion Bubble gives you very rare Mez protection and Damping Bubble dulls the effect of debuffs on you. The only downside to this combo is you're going into teams, you'll want to slot a lot of KB>KD.