Grav/FF - The Ultimate Mob Clumper

[dukedukes]

Greetings controller enjoyers. I've been having a blast with my grav/ff controller for a while now, I haven't seen people play in a similar style with all these powers, so I'm making this post to get it on more people's radar in case they could have some fun with it.

The focus here is on packing enemies tightly together so your teammates can AOE them easier. You accomplish this with powers that manipulate the positions of enemies. The play-style is similar to a herding tanker but with a very different kit. Note the character doesn't really come online until you get Singularity at level 26, but people will appreciate your shields until that point I'm sure.

Spoiler sections contain more advanced details, skip these if you're just starting, refer to them if you want to understand how to use powers better.

I'll make references to i28p2, a patch released recently (June 17th 2025) which changes a few things about how to use the power sets.

Warning: This is not a simple character to play, there is nuance involved in using each power. You can cause your teammates grief when you mess up or are too disruptive. Proceed with care. I highly encourage keybinding everything as there is a lot of moving around and fast back to back power/command activations, I use 27 or so power/command keybinds for this character. If you prefer to be laid back and/or not use keybinds you may have a bad time.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for those who misuse these powers to disrupt your gameplay (unless it's me), it is challenging though so please cut us some slack while we work on improving 😅

Power overview

I'll skip explaining the overall power sets of grav and ff and assume you're familiar, this topic will focus on grouping enemies together and how powers assist with this goal.

Gravity Control

Lift
Lifts enemies over ledges. This is useful here and there. You need Repulsion Field or Singularity to do the actual pushing as lift just raises the enemy. Enemies in the air are pushed harder by repel.

 

Crushing Field

Don't bother using Repulsion Field or even Singularity TP without it. It stops mobs from moving around while you try and group them up. I'm not a fan of immobilize outside of soloing but this is an incredible use of it.

Dimension Shift
Let me propose Dimension Shift as a power like this: do you want a button that makes you immune to damage? That's nearly what this is. You can coordinate larger pulls or pulls against stronger enemies if you can void incoming damage at its peak. If you're at the point pulls seriously hurt you it's time to consider this power. It's an optional power, definitely more of an advanced tool.

Extra Info:

Spoiler

It's simple in premise, use Dimension Shift if you expect to receive a ton of damage. Get some things done before you use this though. Singularity should be in a good spot and a majority of the mobs should be immobilized near Singularity, pop Gravity Distortion Field. Also avoid affecting teammates. You can move in and out of Dimension Shift as you like, pay attention to the phasing status as the phasing takes time to wear off.

The power is time limited, so you're not immune to damage forever, but it should buy plenty of time for you to lose aggro or come up with an exit strategy.

While phased you can still TP and issue commands to Singularity, activate toggles, respawn your pet, and use destiny/hybrid/lore.

In pulls where you gather a bunch of mobs you're typically not positioned with the team, when I get back to Singularity I might be off to the side nearby, this is good for Dimension Shift as you don't want to capture a teammate in it.

Try out the Dimension Shift macro in the macro section.

Gravity Distortion Field

In i28p2 this power became location based and lasts 60 seconds. For situations where you can group 3+ mob packs or otherwise taking some heat this is a great power for reducing incoming damage as you can make use of the long duration in longer fights to get full benefit. It's important to only initiate this power when 16 targets are present as the initial hold hits 16 targets, don't use it early before mobs are grouped up.

Wormhole

Teleport outlier mobs to the main group of mobs. You can wormhole entire packs of distant enemies but it's likely you will not pull them all. The target mobs should be tightly packed or I wouldn't bother using this power. Have a remediation strategy for dealing with the remaining mobs. I will either provoke them, bump them with Repulsion Field so they aggro and kite them over, or Crushing Field and Repulsion Field to push them toward the main clump of mobs. The choice depends on the number of remaining enemies, how far away they are, their relative level, and the obstacles in the way. Be sure to convert knockback to knockdown with an IO.

Extra Info:

Spoiler

A big question about this power is should you actually use it. If you engage one pack of mobs and your team has high damage I would argue Wormholing the next pack from a decent distance away may not be the right decision. If you end up having to pull the remaining mobs over will they reach the main pack before everything is dead? If not I would question using this power. Having your team clean up the remaining mobs you failed to TP is likely still faster than fighting two full packs separately but I don't find this ideal, and it's even a bit disruptive. You don't want your teammates feeling like janitors cleaning up after you.

You can't TP bosses at +3 which severely reduces the viable opportunities to use this power. When you Wormhole a +3 boss they will get knocked down slowing the pull even more. For a very long fight this is okay. Sign the petition to finally fix this bad behaviour: 

The ideal time to use this power is as early as possible, even before you group up the first pack of mobs if your team has good damage. You can TP past the first pack and Wormhole the next pack roughly at the same time your team engages the first, aggro the remainders, then group up all the mobs with Singularity + Repulsion Field back at the first pack.

Mobs do not react to getting Wormhole'd. This means you can preemptively move mobs on top of each other without actually engaging with them and dealing with their aggro. This can be nice to get the power on cooldown mid-fight so it's up more. It's also nice to get the mobs grouped ASAP so the initial AOE's have more targets available.

A classic pull I will do is when I see 3 packs of enemies I will wormhole the furthest pack to the first pack your team is fighting and Repulsion Field the last closer pack toward the first, then pull any left overs.

If you want you can add a damage proc to Wormhole and all the mobs will aggro to you up to your aggro limit. If there is more than 16 mobs some will not get pulled. A damage proc is nice because even if the teleport misses they will come running. I prefer using a damage proc as it seems faster to get the remnants who were not teleported over to the main pack of mobs.

Singularity

The reason to use Gravity Control as a primary. You've likely seen grav controllers teleport their pet in the middle of a group of enemies. Singularity attracts enemies toward itself with a large radius. This is the primary way to group mobs together and you often don't need any other powers other than Crushing Field. You can initiate pulls by TP'ing your pet into a pack once you get a feel for the character and your defenses. Be sure to convert knockback to knockdown with an IO.

Extra Info:

Spoiler

With i28p2 managing Singularity became much easier, being able to control your pet avoids so many problems where your pet would randomly move or move after getting TP'd. It does mean we need more keybinds though. See the pet macros section for these commands and tips on using them.

When you are going in an elevator make sure to TP your pet to the elevator so they enter with you. If you don't do this and the pet is on the previous floor when you TP the pet they will zoom through the wall toward the previous floor.

It's preferable to teleport your pet the maximum distance possible so you can keep Repulsion Field running without throwing the enemy mobs around while you TP the pet. It can be useful to Repulsion Field the mobs closer together just before the TP but it depends on the pack. I highly recommend using the teleport front macro for long distance teleports because point and click is a bit jank, but if you want a precise position then using TP target regularly is the way.

Force Field

Deflection/Insulation Shield

Keeps your pet alive longer. Singularity will take a beating so this is useful.

Repulsion Field

The reason to pick Force Field as a secondary. The basic idea is to push enemies toward your Singularity. Singularity makes Repulsion Field more forgiving and effective, the repel/attract effects work together. Be aware the knockback effect has a smaller radius than the repel effect, sometimes you won't want to trigger knockback as repel has no effect if the enemy is knocked on the ground.

Extra Info:

Spoiler

This is the secret sauce of the character. People might think it's Singularity pulling mobs in from 80 feet away but no, it's you, using this power.

There is a lot to keep in mind using this power. You need high awareness of all the mobs around you as well as your team. Take learning this power slowly. The easiest environment to use Repulsion Field is on outdoor maps where there is minimal obstacles and packs close in proximity, if you want a good testing ground.

The goal eventually is to keep this power active almost all the time so you're ready to adjust mob positions, even on simple packs you can still counter a teammates knockback and clump up the few straggler mobs. Definitely turn it off if you use Fold Space or want to save on endurance.

If you knock mobs around in the wrong direction there's no need to panic, you happen to have all the tools to correct these situations. If a mob gets put in a corner you can knock them out of it by jumping on their head or moving Singularity nearby to pull them out (assuming main clump is close enough), you can Fold Space if things really get scattered, Wormhole if you want, or kill the mob yourself while your team takes out the main pack. Lots of options.

You'll need to figure out what mob types are feasible to push around at what distance toward the main clump. Against +4 mobs I tend to use Repulsion Field to tighten up a pack of mobs mostly, but I'm willing to push other mobs around if they're roughly 80 ft away or if they're immobilized already somehow I'll just push them over, it's kind of fun even if time consuming. If there's a lot of mobs to push prefer to Wormhole them over and either kite or push what's left over. Against +0 to +2 your repel is extremely strong so you can push things over longer distances.

If you have aggro on the mobs you're pushing and they're running at you the mobs will go nowhere. You have a few options to deal with this, either kite the mobs instead or immobilize them so they stop running at you. For further distances I often end up kiting them til I lose aggro then push them in again.

If you have a decent amount of mobs to push it's ideal to strafe left and right quickly to average the direction of your Repel forward, otherwise mobs will spread out and be difficult to move them all at once. If Singularity is in range this isn't as necessary.

You may notice when mobs are knocked down from knockback or knockdown effects repel has no effect. This is more a problem for Singularity than Repulsion Field because Repulsion Field has a stronger repel effect. If your team is knockdown/knockback heavy Repulsion Field helps a ton to get the mobs clumped up.

Repulsion Field as an aggro-aura is incredibly good. Getting aggro is instant as repel seems to execute every server tick and the radius is huge at 25ft. It's one of the best tools available for getting aggro to then kite the mobs to your team.

I mention this in a few places in this post but it's worth repeating, Combat Teleport is very important to utilize.

Some mobs are immune to Repel but it's very rare. Carnie strongmen are for example. You can use the knockback portion of Repulsion Field (just get close and they'll be knocked back) to group them instead. AV's are immune of course.

Dispersion Bubble
Up to 12% all defense plus hold, immobilize, and stun protection. Good defense is important as you will receive a lot of attention from mobs. The leftover mez that does affect you is terrorize, sleep, taunt, and confuse so the important stuff is covered with this power. Sleep and terrorize do get me occasionally but it's not too bad, so I don't use Clarion.

 

Force Bomb
This power has a nice knockup effect. Other than using it for bouncing your enemies on the ground for damage mitigation it can also be used as an AOE form of Lift. In situations where many enemies are pulled up against an obstacle (like a railing) Force Bomb can knock them all over the obstacle at once with the help of a nearby repel power.

Power pool: Teleport

Combat Teleport

A very useful way to maximize Repulsion Field uptime and effect. Rather than moving to the position you would have the best repel you can teleport there. Can be used to get around mobs without disturbing them with Repulsion Field as well.

Extra Info:

Spoiler

Your mastery over this power makes a huge difference in how efficiently you can clump mobs together, it can take a while to get used to using it but it's worth the effort. Whenever you're moving a far distance to get an angle with Repulsion Field just remind yourself you should have teleported.

A bit of range helps. Global range enhancements do not affect this power but enhancements do. I slot it with Blessing of the Zephyr 2 or 3 slot.

You may notice the power failing to teleport you, you'll see the teleport vfx activate but you move nowhere. This is because the position you selected to teleport to was too far away. If you want to max range combat teleport you can do so by teleporting with your cursor aiming at the air instead of the ground. Sometimes this fails too though. Shorter distances are more consistent.

Teleport Target

Needed to teleport Singularity. It's possible to use pet goto commands but I find TP target more consistent. Goto commands are still useful at times. Your pet is fairly slow so it gets far behind a lot which will delay it getting involved in pulls without TP target.

Teleport

For repositioning where Combat Teleport won't move you far enough.

Fold Space

Obviously a great way to move mobs, similar to Wormhole it often won't TP every mob you wanted it to. Ideal for situations where mobs are scattered around you in many directions and too far for Singularity to pull in. Gather the remaining mobs similar to Wormhole.

Extra Info:

Spoiler

People use this power all the time but there is still some things to mention I see people mess up a lot.

Fold Space can't TP bosses at +3 so if you have the choice you may want to use this on top of a boss, it depends.
 

If you are against a north or east facing wall and you use Fold Space the mobs will stack on top of each other, ignoring collision. Not a bad option if the pull makes sense.

Fold Space will teleport mobs to your location up to its target limit (16 iirc. Roughly 1 pack of mobs). If you use Fold Space intending to pull some stragglers in when a group of mobs is already packed you just wasted it, you'll TP the nearby mobs who were already gathered and the stragglers will mostly be untouched. Sometimes you will want to wait for the main packs minions and LT's to die, then Fold Space. Work with the target limit.

This power is not my first choice to group up mobs. Most pulls the mobs will be close enough for Singularity and Repulsion Field to handle it. Some rooms have enemies spread out like in the sewer layout and then Fold Space is the correct choice. If the fight is chaos and enemies are everywhere I'll Fold Space next to Singularity to start getting a clump going, then Wormhole, and finally turn on Repulsion Field and get the rest grouped up.

 

If there is, say, 3 packs of mobs within range and you Fold Space there's a chance you will aggro every pack on to your team. If your team is strong this might be a good thing but not so good if you wipe your team, the extra packs will run to your team and you can do your thing to try and group them all up.

There is a trick to use Fold Space without turning off Repulsion Field, if you get some momentum, jump, and use Fold Space quickly the mobs will appear where you were, and not where you are, which avoids tossing the mobs everywhere.

Power pool: Presence

Provoke
If there's mobs far from the main clump you want to pull in a good old-fashioned taunt may just be the best tool available, you wouldn't want to Repulsion Field a bunch of mobs over long distances. Provoke can be nice to get the leftovers of a pack you partially Wormhole'd to the main pack. You don't get the range reduction on the target like tanks do, so you have to out-range or LOS to get them moving. Bumping the mob with Repulsion Field or using some other attack to get aggro can fill the same role, nearly, if there's a lot of enemies then Repulsion Field for aggro is the right choice. If you think the mob will run close enough without a taunt effect for you to Repulsion Field them into the main pack then regular aggro will suffice. This is also useful against mobs immune to repel and knockback, though these enemies are rare. It's optional but I enjoy having the power available, it sees plenty of use.

Temporary/Prestige/Origin Attacks

 

Throwing Knives

It can be useful to have a fast ranged attack to get some aggro for a pull without running over to the target or using your regular attacks which cause knockup or knockback. Throwing Knives (available via p2w/start vendor) is a 1sec activation time and an 80 ft range. Feel free to use whatever you want though.

Pull Ethics

COH players do not like knockback, or more accurately they don't like mobs moving out of melee or aoe range. Given this character excels at moving enemies there is a middle ground you should find to be humane to your fellow players. No throwing entire packs of mobs into corners making the entire team adjust for your decisions or Fold Spacing to Narnia. Try to minimize the friction between you and your team. I can guarantee you'll see melee go for straggler mobs that you could group with the main pack in about 1 second with a combat TP, you can just let them have it unless it causes some greater impediment.

For every thirty players that speak out of joy for what this character can do for pulls there is a tank lurking behind a corner waiting to be outraged by you due to some type of emasculation reaction I expect. "You're a controller, not a tank!" - it's a simple fact this character can do more than a tank for herding up a big group of mobs, and because your herding process anchors on where Singularity is you have the authority for where the team engages in a fight, trumping any decision a tank could make. They lose control and could get upset. These players are not cooperative, but you should be. If a tank wants to really get involved they can pull more mobs to you, taunt stragglers so they run into the pack, or just hold some aggro to lower incoming damage. If the tank engages first Singularity goes on top of them, if they try to corner pull just let them, put Singularity at the corner. Tanks can work with you but this is an oddball character so they're not used to what you do, it's a constant learning process with the community.

 

Nearly all pulls begin at the first pack, that's where Singularity goes. It's the most predictable approach, which minimizes friction. If your team is keen and understands how you operate things can be more fluid, kite the front pack to the next, someone pulls a far group, you wormhole another group in. Boom: you've got 4 packs grouped up.
 

Pet Command Macros
 

i28p2 introduces controllers being able to command their pet. Here's the commands I use.

After teleporting Singularity I will use this command to stop Singularity from moving and start attacking enemies. This must be used every time you TP:
/macro_image "PetCommand_Action_Stay" STAY petcom_all stay aggressive

Attack your target. Keep in mind this allows the pet to move if it feels like it:

/macro_image "PetCommand_Stance_Aggressive" ATTK  petcom_all attack aggressive

Make the pet go to a location. This can be good for tweaking your pets position. This command is a little silly for flying pets as the pet will stop very very far away from the destination so you have to overshoot the intended destination. I prefer to overshoot by a lot and press the stay macro at the right time to get the pet where I want it. You can also make your pet run in first to a pack with this, which can conditionally be a good option.
/macro_image "PetCommand_Action_Goto" GOTO petcom_all goto

Make the pet follow you:
/macro_image "PetCommand_Action_Bodyguard" BG petcom_all follow defensive

 

Other Macros

There's several other macros that are useful, generally to make teleport powers less clunky.

Teleport to cursor:
/macro_image "Teleportation_Teleport" "tp" "powexec_location cursor teleport"

Combat Teleport to cursor:
/macro_image "Teleportation_Teleport" "ctpcursor" "powexec_location cursor combat teleport"

Combat Teleport up against your target. You'll appear on their closest side if they're not moving, I don't use this much for this character but it's occasionally useful:
/macro_image "Teleportation_Teleport" "ctptarget" "powexec_location target combat teleport"

Target your pet with a keybind to then teleport it:
/macro pet petselectname YOUR_PET_NAME

Teleport Singularity the maximum distance possible in front of you:
/macro_image "Teleportation_TeleportFoe" "tppetfront" "powexec_location front:max Teleport Target"
You could put the pet select in the same macro though it requires two button presses, not sure if there's a way around this:
/macro_image "Teleportation_TeleportFoe" "tppetfront" "petselectname YOUR_PET_NAME$$powexec_location front:max Teleport Target"

Spawn Dimension Shift behind you as far away as possible while still being affected. This does unfortunately re-queue the power when toggling off:
/macro_image "GravityControl_DimensionShift" "DS Behind" "powexec_location back:26 Dimension Shift$$powexec_toggleoff "Dimension Shift""

Example Build

I've been leaning toward building damage heavy so you have more impact than just gathering the mobs. Make sure you have the target(s) immobilized or held for containment damage.
ST rotation = Gravity Distortion -> Lift -> Propel -> repeat. Skip Gravity Distortion if your recharge allows for it.
AOE = gather mobs (use Crushing Field doing so) -> Force Bomb -> Umbral Torrent. You could go Mu Mastery for Ball Lightning if you want but cones work well with this character.

Some things to shoot for:

• Good defenses. I aim for high ranged defense, good aoe defense, balanced resists.
• Force Feedback recharge procs to help with longer cooldowns
• 95% to hit chance for Fold Space and Wormhole against +3
• Good range boost for Teleport Target, but all teleport powers (including Wormhole) are better with range

 

dukedukes damagev1.07 (Gravity Control - Force Field).mbd
Other power options if you drop Provoke/Dimension Shift: Repulsion Bolt (ST -res), Damping Bubble (DDR, LOTG mule, other random stuff that sometimes helps), Maneuvers, Combat Jumping, etc...

The incarnates selected in the build are mostly for damage. If you're up against stronger mob types it might help to switch them:
Hybrid - Control Radial. Applies a TON of mez. Spam Crushing Field and other AOE's to apply it

Destiny - Barrier. You need to be more conservative with endurance when not using Ageless

Alpha - Cardiac Core will help if you're using Barrier

Judgement - Void Radial. -50% damage for 30 sec on 32 targets

Here's a +2 Yin TF. Keep in mind relative mob level affects how strong repel is via Purple Patch, +2 is pushed very hard compared to +4.
There's some odd pulls during this particular TF but overall the execution was decent. I died on 3rd raid leader as I didn't realize my pet died before I engaged, then assumed a tank would hold aggro. When you do initial pulls exemplared you usually need a purp insp because most of your set buffs and buff powers are disabled.

Thanks for your time. If you try these power sets out I hope you have fun! My global name is @Ducks if you have questions and happen to catch me online, or ask here.

Edited 18 hours ago by dukedukes
updated video

[hoodedKitsune]

I started a Grav/FF not to long ago and this is VERY helpful. That said I have a question or two. 

 

1: Does Wormhole need a KB to KD? or am I wasting a slot for that that could be used for something else or a proc? (what are some good Procs If even a thing?)

2: Same for Singularity, am I wasting a slot or is this so needed before mobs start flying everywhere?

 

So far I am just level 25 and LOVING wormhole, kinda amazed at how fast it recharges so far without a lot of recharge.  After reading this I am so picking up Teleport Target.  I had simply played on Warmhole'ing groups into my pet, but learning I can do the reverse? YES PLEASE!  

[dukedukes]

16 minutes ago, hoodedKitsune said:

I started a Grav/FF not to long ago and this is VERY helpful. That said I have a question or two.

1: Does Wormhole need a KB to KD? or am I wasting a slot for that that could be used for something else or a proc? (what are some good Procs If even a thing?)

2: Same for Singularity, am I wasting a slot or is this so needed before mobs start flying everywhere?

I'm glad it's been helpful for you!

Yes you need kb->kd for Wormhole and Singularity, it will make things a lot less hectic.

Personally for Wormhole I get accuracy, range, and recharge but prioritizing accuracy, I check the combat window to see if I have 95% hit chance so its behaviour is as consistent as possible. There are some procs, the only viable damage proc is Explosive Strike. Check the last 2 paragraphs of the Wormhole "extra info" section about how this changes Wormholes behaviour. In terms of dishing out AOE damage I would rather proc up Force Bomb and an AOE from an epic pool. You could proc Crushing Field too potentially but I haven't tried this.

[dukedukes]

Updated for i28p2. It's an incredible patch for the character.

 

Summary:
+Singularity is much easier, consistent, and less frustrating to use thanks to pet commands

+Gravity Distortion Field has become worth taking providing great damage mitigation on big pulls