I leveled a controller to 18, a second one to 20, a third one started out at 24, leveled him up to 26, then had him boosted to 34 and leveled him up to half way thru 36 before the beta ended. The last few hours I got bumped up to 38 to test the Hamidan. I have probably spent more time as a controller so far than all but a select few. My thoughts come from real experience playing the game.
Ok, on with one example of a PM I received.
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Hi there i noticed you made a post saying you had a lvl 38 fire controller.
I wonder if you would have time to answer a few questions for me.
1) Did you find that cinders only being point blank aoe hold rather than a range aoe hold was much of a problem?
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All controllers need to deal with the PBAOE hold. To make it really work well for Fire, use Smoke first! It reduces their visibility (sort of a reverse stealth) giving you enough time to close and fire off Cinders (PBAOE Hold). I can't tell you how hard life would be without some way of causing either a distraction or stealth type approach.
Another tactic is have your tank buddy jump into the middle, gain as much attention as he can, and then follow him in after a 5 count, this will let you get in mostly unmolested so you can survive and pop off the hold.
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2) Do fire imps kick out much damage when they are hitting? is it range or melee damage.
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Fire Imps are melee only, exceedingly low HPs (345 at level 36) and can easily die in a single hit from tough stuff. AOEs kill them fast, especially 5th Column and CoT. Don't expect them to stand around vs unheld stuff, it won't happen. Their biggest problem is Accuracy, you need to slot in at minimum 2x Accuracy, possibly even 3 or 4 if you fight higher level stuff often. Their damage is in excess of 100 when they hit. (Damage is on one chunck quickly followed by 3 fast ticks of damage. As an example it might be 55, 19, 19, 19)
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3) Did you use bonfire much is it any good?
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Bonfire is neat, but I'm not sure I'd take it after launch. It's more a personal choice. It sets up a spot on the ground of approx 25' radius that will knockback anything entering. Very good for controlling a choke-point (like a doorway). Allows people to retreat to a relatively safe spot to heal. It's fun as all get-out watching something stuck in a corner bounce over and over tho, that alone gives it a nod in my book.
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4) What you take as a secondary power set? Would you choose this again if not what else and why?
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Kinetics is worthy of it's own discussion. Short story: Siphon Speed and Inertial Reduction (group superleap) aren't really worth taking, everything else is worth concidering. Some people like Siphon Speed, I personally didn't. Meh.
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5) How was you endurance drain was it much of a problem once you got "stamina" " assuming you chose this?
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I didn't take Stamina, but I can see where it is usefull for some ATs. Big damage attacks (broadsword scrapper, etc) have a much higher end drain and it is usefull for them. As a controller, you don't need to be firing off powers like crazy. You need to control things fast, then keep them controlled while keeping an eye out for emergencies. I couldn't run out of end unless I was trying to or things *really* went bad. Stamina not needed for Controllers IMO. Besides, you need to buy 2 other powers before you can get Stamina, there's better powers out there than swift or hurdle. Yes, Stamina is a great power, but do you want to pick 2 other powers just to unlock it?
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6) Soloing is not as important as grouping to me, in your opinion is there a better control power for crowd control?
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Fire is very good because of Flashfires giving you a second AOE control option. While soloing, I would engage one group by firing off Flashfires, then burning them down with RoF (pre pets) or letting my pets eat them up afterwords. The next group I would hold with Cinders while Flashfires recharged, essentially I could solo non-stop groups of 4 or less, never needing to stop. I've gone entire missions without ever getting hit once (I'm sure there were a few misses in there though).
Here's a problem tho, when you're by yourself, you don't have enough oomph to kill much. This is fine when you're in a group, but it really doesn't make you feel like a superhero if you can't take out some piddling punk with an attitude. You're going to need to take at least one power and slot it up with damage enhancements, Brawl is good because you don't need to spend a power slot on it. I recommend 1x accuracy, 1x end and 2x damage. Or you can take Ring of Fire and slot up several damage in it (because you really don't need the root duration to last all that long) but somewhere, you'll need one power with multiple damage enhancers in it. Mid levels (20+) you won't have enough end to kill more than a single guy without doing that.
This is true even if you don't really solo. It's depressing to take out a green con (3 levels lower than you) and use most of your end doing it. Just doesn't feel like a superhero
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7) Latter in the game is their a point where mobs resistances to crowd control effects sudden jump up or is it fairly constant as you progress?
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Devouring Earth drop a stationary pet that emits a healing aura, reducing your hold times, you'll need to refresh holds faster on those types. Crey Industries has a medic that can remove hold of their allies, you need to take them out. Each faction has different tactics.
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are there some types of mobs that resist your effects OMGIAMRETARDEDCAUSEALOTISTWOWORDS more than others?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See above
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9) What powers would you skip in the fire set for powerpool powers and why
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Bonfires is fun but eh. Hotfeet is a no-go in my opinion. Damage isn't worth it and you don't want things hanging out near you and slow, you want them either held or far away from you.
IMO, Leadership powers are *always* worth it. Slot in 1x End reducer and you've just givin your entire team 5% accuracy boost. Or 5-10% damage boost. Or a Defense boost. You can safely replace Bonfires or Hotfeet with a just about anything else and probably be better off.
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10) Have you got any general tips for controllers.
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My feelings on controllers in a paragraph:
A controller without end is a dead controller, usually followed by dead other players. End usage tends to come in one big burst at the start of a fight, followed up by a slow, steady stream. A miss can easily mean a dead controller, you can never have too much accuarcy.
All my main control powers followed this formula:
1x End
2x Accuracy (3x on AOEs since they have a lower to-hit rate)
2 or 3 Hold duration / disorient duration
1x recharge
Cinders was:
3x Accuracy
2x Hold
1x Recharge
(since you really only use it at the start of a fight, the end use isn't as important).
I'm really leaning towards going Leadership: Tactics and slotting in 1x End, 3x Accuarcy, this would not only help the entire team but it also lets you go back down to only 1 or 2 accuracy in your powers instead of 2 or 3. Tactics would also benefit your Imps.
Three things you can never have enough of:
Accuracy
Defense (get hit less often)
Hold/Sleep/Mez/Root Resistance
Anything you can do to stack up those three abilities is a bonus.