GameAmp: Controller Types

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ironsquid

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Controller Types

Hi guys,

ever since I started playing CoH, I've always played tanks. Love them, just love them. But now I wanted to try something different, so I thought I'd go to the other end of the scale and play a controller. My question is this: What types of controller are there?

See, with tanks, at one end of the scale you've got the pure agro tank build (focusing on taunts and damage resistance/defense) and on the other end you've got the Scrankers (focusing on high damage output). Of course, enhancements can be slotted such that the tank is neither of these two extremes but somewhere in the middle.

Bearing that in mind, is there a similar system with controllers? Does choosing different powers and enhancements result in different breeds of controllers? I hope I haven't phrased my question in a convoluted manner, and any help will be greatly appreciated.

07/16/07 05:16

pathofwrath

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RE: Controller Types

With tollers, your choice of sets can allow you to do some serious slowing, or mass holds, or even (in the case of Earth/Storm) some hella crazy total lockdown.

A Fire/Kin can be an amazingly strong killing machine.

Illusion trollers are nice as you get pets at lvls 18, 26, and 32.

And of course with the secondaries, you can use the same tools you get as a defender.

Path of Wrath - Storm/Elec/Elec Defender - 50
Miss Trinidad - Ill/Storm/Ice Controller - 50
Miss Cote d'Ivoire - Dark/Regen/Dark Scrapper - 50
Posey Punk - Grav/Kin/Stone Controller - 50
Mr. Azerbaijan - Kin/Psy Defender - 40
Laccolith - Earth/Rad Controller - 30
Geriatric Justice - Willpower/SS Tanker - 21

07/16/07 05:29

ironsquid

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RE: Controller Types

So what would you recommend for solo-ing and what would you recommned for team play? And Why?

07/16/07 08:02

bigspeer

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RE: Controller Types

Basic Guide for Controllers

Here is a nice beginners guide to all the Controller primary sets. There are similiar guides for the other ATs. Those will probably help you out a lot.

Big

My New House - Almost Done Moving In...

07/16/07 09:25

ironsquid

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RE: Controller Types

QUOTE

With tollers, your choice of sets can allow you to do some serious slowing, or mass holds, or even (in the case of Earth/Storm) some hella crazy total lockdown.

Why is earth/storm so effective at "hella crazy total lockdown"?

07/17/07 08:34

Warron Peace

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RE: Controller Types

Earth/Storm is very good at debuffing and has a good amount of controls in it, too. Knockback, slows, knockdown, immobs, holds, its just great at controlling enemies and makin them unable to fight back.

Team: Fire/Rad would be awesome, with good damage and great debuffs.

Solo: Ill/Rad because you can ghost mishes early on and you get great damage output once you have your first set of pets. Again, Rad has great buff/debuffs, as well.

W.P.

my current project: Spine/Will farmer, Quillpower, on Virtue.

07/17/07 11:31

ironsquid

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RE: Controller Types

I've been looking into the different types of controllers and it seems to me that's there's loads of different types. You've got the bubblers (sonic and ff) and you've got the green machine empathy and the buffing/debuffing machine rad emission. With this wealth of variety, my question is, what type of controller is most sought after by teams?

07/18/07 06:29

MScott5678

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RE: Controller Types

I'd have to say that Ice Control offers some nice powers and damage mitigation. At lv.12 you get Ice Slick which knocks everything on top of it down, and if your on a good team, by the time the Ice Slick wears off most, if not all, of the enemies have been defeated. With Storm as my secondary I can nearly make the enemies reach their 'slow cap' via snow storm, freezing rain, iceslick and frostbite. This is a very controllerish and team oreinted build, but its really fun and does what its supposed to do.

Global: @SenseiDragon

Triumph Server Heroes:
Electric Aura - Lv.50 Empathy/Electric Defender
Rhynweld - Lv.38 Katana/Willpower Scrapper
Arctic Bandit - Lv.38 Ice/Storm Controller
Twilight Serant - lv.32 Dark/Dark Defender

Freedom Server Heroes:
Andromeda Blayze - Lv.50 Fire/Kinetics Controller
Sensei Dragon - Lv.38 Trick Arrow/Archey Defender
Aleia Evenstar - Lv.35 Archery/Mental Blaster
Amber Blayze - Lv.20 Earth/Thermal Controller
Alpha Protector - Lv.18 Force Fields/Rad Defender

07/18/07 06:44

Sturmwolf

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RE: Controller Types

QUOTE

With this wealth of variety, my question is, what type of controller is most sought after by teams?

That depends mostly on the kind of team your in.
A team with lots of damagedealer but no tank, will look for a healer.
A Stone-Tank is always glad about some Kinetic to Speed Boost him.
While a Superstrength Scranker would like some debuffs on his foes.
The bigger the team is, the better are the area buffs like Accelerate Metabolism.
A AoE-King (Fireblaster or Spinescrapper) doesn't work well with a Mind Controller.
and so worth...
So...it's all about the teambuild.
The team is fun if all share the same playstyle.

I'm listening to real music.
Real Rock, real Gothic, real Rap, real Soul, real Funk...etc

(If you feel insulted by any of my posts.
Remember first, that I'm not writing in my native language.
You might missjudge me.)

07/18/07 07:33

LordStarwolf

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RE: Controller Types

For soloing I'd recommend Gravity or Fire primary and emp or rad secondary. Gravity seems to have the best damage for controllers at lower levels and fire has the best at higher levels. Emp and rad have good self buffing, don't-need-a-bad-guy buffs. Thats important in soloing. And rad has the great debuffs to help you kill em quicker.

For teams I'd recommend Stone or ice primary and rad or kinetics secondary. Stone has a good ability to lock down the baddies en mass, and ice has good AOE holds and slows also. Rad and kinetics has good team buffs, a lot of them at a distance in the case of kinetics.

Having said that, my attempt at an ultimate controller, i.e. one who can lock the baddies down the most and I-dont-care-about-buffing-teammates, is stone/storm. The aoe holds combined with storms aoe slows means you can lock a whole group down pronto, so the rest of the team can beat the crap out of them. Strictly a team player though, no ability to solo.

For duel purpose I went with Ill/kinetics. Illusion has the best pets options, as far as the number and the earliest level to get them, and kinetics has the awesome buff powers.

Guardian
Avant Guard = Emp/Rad/Psychic Defender Lvl 50 (Dedicated Healer)
Astral Plane = Peacebringer Lvl 50
Spica = Fire/Em/Energy Tank Lvl 50 (Scranker)
Avant Spines = Spines/Regen Scrapper Lvl 50 (AOE King)
Beliskner = Eng/Eng Blaster Lvl 41 (Blapper)
Avant Kin = Ill/Kin Controller Lvl 36
BMG = AR/Dev Blaster Lvl 27
Avant Psy = Psychic Blast/Empathy Defender Lvl 20 (Offender)
Avant Def = Kinetics/Energy Blast Defender Lvl 16
Avant Stone = Stone/Storm Controller lvl 15 (Super Controller)
Umbral Plane = Warshade Lvl 14
Triumph
Lord Yu = MA/Regen Scrapper Lvl 24
Protector
T-99 = Ice/Ice Tanker Lvl 20
Electrostun = Electric/EM Blaster Lvl 21 (Sapper)
Starwolf = Katana/Inv Scrapper Lvl 18 (my very first toon, 3 years ago)
Pinnacle
Avant Claws = Claws/Regen Scrapper Lvl 18 (Non-power pool toon)
Champion
Avant Dragon = Fire/Fire Blaster Lvl 20
Freedom
Avant Arch = Archery/NRG Blaster Lvl 27

And many, many, many more....

07/18/07 09:15

Sturmwolf

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RE: Controller Types

Btw...I don't like teaming with Stone-Troller.
The animations are awful.
You can't find your foes.
See nothing but stonewalls.

07/18/07 10:09

Commander Scar

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RE: Controller Types

yeah i know what you mean with the stone walls, but that stone pet is one of the more damageing pets in the troller sets. its like the pot of gold after a long rainbow. if your soloing dont take the earth troller light on damage, but that pet at the end.

07/18/07 10:18

bigspeer

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RE: Controller Types

But if you use the TAB key to cycle thru villains, you dont need to actually see any of them, ever!

I use my left hand on the keyboard to turn with E,Q,A,D and activate powers in slots 1-6 in trays 1-3, use Z to taunt, R to run, X to auto jump, the F1-F5 keys for inspirations, and TAB to cycle thru villains and even SHIFT+TAB to cycle back.

I'm glad I do a lot of other stuff with my right hand the rest of the day to keep it up to par with the left. Not that you sickos, I'm right handed

(^.^)b

My New House - Almost Done Moving In...

07/18/07 10:27

Warron Peace

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RE: Controller Types

Most wanted by a team? I'd say Ill/Rad. When built right, they can ghost mishes, tank, debuff, buff, and do nice damage, too.

W.P.

my current project: Spine/Will farmer, Quillpower, on Virtue.

07/18/07 11:44

Thundarpants

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RE: Controller Types

I've always liked my Fire/Kinetics. Heavy Scrapper and Tanker teams like the ranged AoE heal you can pull off on the mobs. The entire Kinetics line is pretty good with just a few exceptions(Get Repel and you'll see! I keep it just for my own ammusement, but it drives people nutz!).

The multiple fire Imps are also really good for giving the mobs A.D.D...... They tend to hop from enemy to enemy when there are a lot present in the fight, and cause the mobs to keep changing targets. Unlike Ice and Earth where the mobs can tend to focus on the singular pet. They are still great pets mind you, even Mr. Poo. I just like the way the imps tear through stuff and make the mobs do that.

If you are looking to team, Empathy is hard to beat for the secondary. Not many people on average want to be healers. Just expect the game community to see Empathy = Dedicated Healer. This is one power set selection where everybody will have their expectations about what you should be doing with your build, even if you have a different game plan in mind. If you wanted to do something out of the box with the Empathy secondary for your own personal reasons, go for it and do not let people tell you what to do.

The Radistion Secondary is also very popular since they amped up the GMs so much, but good luck finding a team that wants to take em any longer. Still, the AoE debufs that come with the set make them very popular with almost any group.

You really can't go wrong with any of the selections. I too am not fond of the Earth Troller when I run a melee toon, but that's rare. Otherwise, I like the animations. If you mix a Fire Troller with and Earth Troller on the same team, their AoE immobilize powers combined look like the enemy is incased in a flaming pile of poo...... Now THATS funny! Top it off with their AoE hold and it looks like geysers are coming out of the little volcanoes!

Again this is going to come down to the animations that you can stand to watch for 50 levels of game play. Don't look for that perfect or best teaming/PvP/Solo. A good player can do all of those with any combo. It is true that there are some combos that are slightly better for certain applications, but only slightly. It's the player behind the keyboard that is going to make the difference on any combination of powers chosen. Besides, all of the "Best" combos that will get suggested are played to death. Including my fav Fire/Kinetics.

There is something to be said for style and uniqueness.

Pick a combo that sounds good to you for starters. Something you feel might be the combo for you. Then watch the other players you team with and see working. When you see something and think to yourself "OMFG! That is SO cool!" Then that's a power set that can probably hold your interest.

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Because she's not......

07/18/07 12:24

Electro

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RE: Controller Types

QUOTE

Most wanted by a team? I'd say Ill/Rad. When built right, they can ghost mishes, tank, debuff, buff, and do nice damage, too.

W.P.

Ill/Rad is also fantastic for soloing.

07/18/07 13:13

Sturmwolf

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RE: Controller Types

QUOTE

But if you use the TAB key to cycle thru villains, you dont need to actually see any of them, ever!

First off...I play this game, because I like the visual part.
I want to SEE my toon, my teammates and often even my foes.
As a mostly melee type of player I just put "target nearest foe" on TAB and go fighting.
But with all those stonewalls up, I can't pick specific foes I want to attack.
For example if i try to avoit killing Nemesis LTs or try to kill a Void.
And it takes ages to toogle thru them.
=P

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

07/18/07 13:22

blackbinary

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RE: Controller Types

just read the OP.

Types;

Heavy Damage (usually needs containment, probably pets too)
Heavy Holds/Immobs (stuff like earth and mind can pull this off nice)
Heavy Support (focusing on secondary, such as /emp or /rad using debuffs or heals more than your powers, it seems to be very low damage)

08/22/07 13:45

blackbinary

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RE: Controller Types

QUOTE

With tollers, your choice of sets can allow you to do some serious slowing, or mass holds, or even (in the case of Earth/Storm) some hella crazy total lockdown.

Why is earth/storm so effective at "hella crazy total lockdown"?

I'd say Mind/Storm is actually better at knockdown-lockdown :)

Just because of TK. and the lockdown part comes from the super massive holds like Mass Hypnosis or Mass Confusion.

08/22/07 13:47

pyro master

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RE: Controller Types

QUOTE

just pointing out that fire/rad/primal forces has all of those =)

08/22/07 21:41

Rhingo

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RE: Controller Types

QUOTE

So what would you recommend for solo-ing and what would you recommned for team play? And Why?

so far I have only tried the following sets so my exp. with this AT is really limited:

Mind Control/Empathy
Fire Control/Kinetics
Illusion/Kinetics
Illusion/Radiation

Fire/Kin and Illu/Kin I never got a toon past 15, both with the same problem atk, atk, atk, no blue (kinda like playing a Stone/Stone tank lol sorry)

MC/Emp - I solo'd this one to bout 26 with no problem but around 26-27 he seemed to loose some of his "Umf!" and became more useful and helpful on teams than solo.

Illu/Rad - this one was tough for me, cause you only get like 2 decent atks till 18 and in the mid teens you run into the same endurance problems as the others if not sooner, but I continued with it due to my failure with the other Illu guy i built, cause I wanted a Hero Master Mind, and much to my surprise they are not like a MM at all. You have little to no control over your pets. ****However - this particular type of troller (once i got him to 18) turned out to be one of the easiest controllers I have played and the easiest for me to solo with. Your pets do a good job (usually) at holding aggro, and with the Radiation Debuffs they kill stuff pretty quick too. I have also slotted my Spectral Terror with one of the new IO's and like 1 out of every 10 times he attempts to hold a group he does dmg to them (normally ST doesn't deal dmg).
I was kinda shocked that the other trollers i made had trouble with like whites and yellows and this one i could turn it up to Unyeilding and had little to no trouble with him (not recommended to do so till you understand what tactics to use with them)

So if you can stomach through the first 18 lvls with like 2 atks, I would say go for Illusion/Radiation. like I said after 18 I have had no trouble with mine solo'ing.

Virtue

Fire Bug XI 50 Fire/Fire/Force Blaster
Granite Gargoyle 46 Dark/SR/Body Scrapper aka: Rhingo
Crazy Crustacean 40 Ice/EM Tank
Deja View 34 Mind C/Emp. Controller
Mythology 30 Peacebringer
Bling-Bling 29 MA/Regen Scrapper
Fire Bug XII 26 Fire/Fire Tank
and various alts

Victory

Ape Sexy 33 NRG/NRG Brute
various alts still trying to find my niche in the villian world

Champion

Juan Carlos 39 Thugs/FF Mastermind
Senor Pedro Vasquez 28 EM/Ninjitsu Stalker
By-Polar 25 NRG/Electric Brute

08/23/07 02:14

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