Local_Man
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Questions like this should be in the Player Question section. This section is for Guides.
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OK, here is a mostly cheap Fire/Rad build I threw together this morning. There will be some endurance issues if you are running Hot Feet, Choking Cloud, EF and RI all at the same time, but that could be improved later on with some slightly more expensive sets later. I threw in a Celerity Stealth and a Steadfast Knockback -- you really, really need the knockback protection, so save up merits for that one if you have to.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.704
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Cheap Fire-Rad: Level 50 Technology Controller
Primary Power Set: Fire Control
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Char -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(11), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), Decim-Build%(34), Hold-I(36)
Level 1: Radiant Aura -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(37), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Dct'dW-Heal(40), Dct'dW-Rchg(43)
Level 2: Fire Cages -- TotHntr-Acc/EndRdx(A), TotHntr-Acc/Immob/Rchg(3), TotHntr-Dam%(5), Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx(36), DblAc-Acc/EndRdx(36), Posi-Dam%(46)
Level 4: Radiation Infection -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(5), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(37), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg(37)
Level 6: Accelerate Metabolism -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(7), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(7), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(40), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(42)
Level 8: Hot Feet -- Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(9), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), TmpRdns-Acc/EndRdx(19), TmpRdns-Dmg/Slow(19)
Level 10: Air Superiority -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(11)
Level 12: Flashfire -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(13), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(13), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(15), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(15), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 16: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(50)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Enervating Field -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(23)
Level 24: Cinders -- EoCur-Acc/Hold(A), EoCur-Acc/Hold/Rchg(25), G'Wdw-Acc/Rchg(25), G'Wdw-Acc/Hold/Rchg(43), NrncSD-Acc/Hold/Rchg(43)
Level 26: Lingering Radiation -- TmpRdns-Acc/Slow(A), Acc-I(27), RechRdx-I(27)
Level 28: Choking Cloud -- EoCur-EndRdx/Hold(A), G'Wdw-EndRdx/Hold(29), NrncSD-EndRdx/Hold(29), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(34), Lock-%Hold(34)
Level 30: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 32: Fire Imps -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(33), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), C'Arms-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(46)
Level 35: Super Speed -- EndRdx-I(A), Clrty-Stlth(50)
Level 38: EM Pulse -- EoCur-Acc/Hold/Rchg(A), G'Wdw-Acc/Hold/Rchg(39), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(39), Lock-Acc/Rchg(39)
Level 41: Indomitable Will -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 44: Mind Over Body -- ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(45), S'fstPrt-ResKB(45), S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(45)
Level 47: Psionic Tornado -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48), Posi-Dmg/Rng(48), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dam%(50)
Level 49: Bonfire -- RechRdx-I(A)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 6: Ninja Run -
Quote:I thought about mentioning the importance of Bacon on Guardian, but some people get scared off by the high fat content and forget how awesome Bacon is.Originally Posted by Pyber
And bacon! Bad Local for not remembering bacon! Oh, and I'd say we're also known for Pepsiman. He is [in]famous for peeing all over the place, gnawing random people and stealing eyeballs, among other things
As for Pepsiman -- he's kind of like that slightly insane cousin that nobody in the family wants to admit is actually family. If the newbie is lucky, he won't be introduced to Pepsi until he has already joined the family and it is too late.
The bottom line is that Guardian has a fun community of people who like to be a little bit wacky at times. The regulars are good players who are pretty friendly and willing to help. There are some regular and semi-regular events that people run, and most folks don't take themselves very seriously. -
And . . . Lewis is a prime example of the point I made. He has a good build . . . for his playstyle. My Ice/Storm skipped Shiver, took Chilblain early as a damage power, and has Air Superiority and O2 Boost. I skipped Thunderclap since I don't have another stun to stack it with, and I didn't take Frostbite until 30 (mainly for the -knockback to turn Tornado into a nice damage power). I like this character to generally follow behind the melee characters, providing damage mitigation and a little additional damage. I rely upon Ice Slick/Freezing Rain and Arctic Air to provide most of my AoE control.Nothing wrong with either playstyle, just different.
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Quote:Freedom and Virtue have the highest populations . . . so if you want to team with random folks, those may be your best choices. Other servers have their own communities and groups of players. If you are looking to develope a circle of "friends" and teammates with whom you can team on a regular basis, you may want to look at some of the other servers.Originally Posted by Pookie
Brand new player - are any of these servers different in any way?
You may want to take a look at the server-specific section of these forums. Pick one server to try out, introduce yourself on the forum and see if you can team with any of the nice folks you will probably communicate with on the Forums.
Guardian is well known for inviting folks to partake in (virtual) cookies. Pinnacle has the "reputation" of being the "drunk" server. These are the servers I spend most of my time on. -
Come on, Electro, be nice to the newbie . . .
Welcome to the forums, Oslate. The Devs have announced a new controller set, Electric Control, as part of Going Rogue. There is a thread or two where players were speculating what the set would look like, and Castle commented that one of the guesses was mostly on target.
As for elemental sets . . . we have Plant, Fire, Ice and Earth, plus Storm, Thermal and Cold secondaries. Conceptually, Water and Air can be considered to be part of the Storm secondary quite easily (Rain for water; Gale, Snow Storm, Hurricane and Tornado for Air). An Earth/Storm controller with the Fire APP can be considered to cover the Earth, Fire, Wind, Water elements. -
Quote:DIRECTIONAL Pseudopets? I can't think of anything in the game that does that. I know that Volcanic Gasses casts three nondirectional Pseudopets, and I'm not sure how many Carrion Creepers casts, but more than 8? In a circle? (That earlier diagram had eight.) You could have a Pseudo pet that fires a cone at a target, kind of like how Spectral Terror fires a Terrify at foes in the area, but that would have to go in any direction, and I don't think you could fire a knockback attack (kind of like a small Force Bolt or Gale) fast enough for your purposes. The only thing that pulses that fast are AoE auras.Originally Posted by Windenergy21
You're still not understanding that the pseudopets are doing a CONE knockback, towards the origin, not a radial knockback, and much more than just 6 or 8. With faster pulses than bonfire, if they are outside of the circumference, nothing will happen to them. If they are within the circumference of the main power, then they'll be hit by one or more of the cone pseudo-pet knockbacks that is aimed towards the origin.
The more pseudo-pets with a narrower cone, the more seamless the power would work. Unfortunately as mentioned this is the best we could get with the power until they relook the engine to accomodate the power working as an inverse knockback/repel.
It is an interesting idea, but I don't think it would work. -
Of the people who don't like Speed Boost . . . how many of you never take Super Speed as a travel power? It seems to me that there are two complaints; (a) casting SB is too much of a pain in the tail, mostly because it only has a 2 minute duration, and (b) receiving Speed Boost makes your character too fast to handle, or if you have a low-end computer, can cause lag.
Probably about 40% of my characters have Super Speed. I have had plenty of practice handling my characters with fast run speed. Especially with Flying characters, I appreciate the opportunity to run fast when my usual travel power is so slow. Plus, I get around in missions much faster. And why would anyone complain about buffs in Recovery or Recharge?
As for whether the buff is needed, a few people have said, "Just use Transference!" . . . Transference is not a good substitue for ranged characters. Staying out of the fray protects me from melee and AoE attacks centered on the melee characters. Getting close enough for Transference will expose my ranged characters to danger when Speed Boost would let them say at range. Kinetics is a great set for buffing melee characters, but characters who prefer to stay at range can only get SB and ID (and maybe Siphon Power if near the caster). -
Quote:There is a lot of flexibility in the build depending upon your playstyle and strategy. I suggest you post a build and we'll make suggestions. Most of us can point out improvements while recognizing playstyle choices.Originally Posted by DarkInvado
Right so I have a level 50 sitting in the garage that needs a tune up - any builds to share?
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You really want to come to Florida, don't you? How about a Con in its 29th year?
Necronomicon in Tampa on October 22-24.
You have three on the West coast, and had one in New England. Stands to reason that the last one should be in the Southeastern area or the Midwest.
October in Central Florida is very nice! And one of the best beaches in the US is minutes away . . . -
Quote:Six or eight small bonfire-like knockback pseudopets in a circle? Well, I know that with Bonfire, foes will often run through the edges or won't be knocked straight back -- part of that is a function of the number of pulses in the knockback. I can see foes being quickly knocked between the pets out of the field, especially if the "circle" is scrunched by being cast in a limited area.Originally Posted by Windenergy21
Actually that's not really for one, thats actually about the only logical answer that I could see being an issue outside of CPU usage. Depends how they can relate them, but short answer is, it wouldn't matter anyways, if there is a wall there where it would be off the map, the ones thats spawn right next to the wall would still push the enemies towards the center, they just might be at a slight angle where they'd actually very slightly bounce off the wall. So short answer is the ones that spawn, or in the case woudln't spawn off the map, would not matter. That or they would just still create the mini-portals based off the origin, regardless of being on or off the map, depends on the actual mechanics of the game engine as to which route it would have to go with.
I don't think it would work as well as you think. -
I have a Mind/FF, currently at 39. I have been pretty happy with the combo even though I mostly solo the character. Mind really demands very little from the secondary because it provides so much single target and AoE control. And since many of the FF powers are optional, it allows me to take all of the Mind primary powers. Solo, it isn't fast but it works. And then any team is happy to see me when I can throw out the two ally bubbles.
Other sets have a pet to draw aggro, so often the pet will draw the mez. Mind doesn't have a pet, so the mez protection from the big bubble really helps. One of my favorite suprises . . . PFF makes this the best character for leading out hostages of any of my controllers. Getting Nukes in Warburg is a piece of cake.
I haven't tried other primaries paired with FF, but I have played all the other primaries. I can't think of any other primary I would like with FF better than Mind. -
Quote:I have gone back and forth on whether to keep Thunderclap or switch to Flash. Thunderclap is mag 2 so it only hits minions, but it recharges much faster than Flash. If lucky, you can stack the Mag 2 in Thunderclap with the stun in Tornado. If I didn't already have Flash on other Illusion Controllers, I would probably switch to Flash. T-Clap isn't quite as bad as you suggest, but that Mag 2 makes it pretty weak.Originally Posted by Postagulous
What I took;
- Primary: All but Flash and Group Invis.
- Secondary: All but Steamy Mist.
- Hasten
- Hurdle, Health, Stamina
- Rec Friend
- Mental Blast
Comments on my own build:
- Decieve would have been much handier if I took it before 24.
- Should have taken Flash rather than Thunder Clap. I can get the same cool animation as Thunder Clap by using Lightning as the costume change emote. And both are about as effective in combat. [the emote and Clap that is.]
- I love Sup Invis, but Steamy Mist has that def involved.
- All pets are ASAP. Not a mistake I made, just wanted to throw that out there.
- Gale sucks. I hate it when people use it.
- O2 boost is kinda lame, but you can target your Spec Wounds and Blind through Phantasm and heal him with O2 when you're in bad craziness.
- Snow Storm sucks, IMO. But teams I've been on say they like it and it really helps. Well then quit killing my anchor.
- Freezing Rain rocks. Proccy proc proc.
- Herdicane is interesting and good at times. I could have skipped, really. Not part of my gameplay except in bad craziness.
- Thunder Clap. Might as well clap your hands at your monitor, does as much good.
- Tornado. Most irritating pet that's useful ever. Also funny.
- Lightning Storm. Also very fun, but a little meh for a teir 9. But I really dig it.
- Some teams will get irritated that you're dominating everything with your mad chaos. I've had a tank/team leader tell me to not use any of my pets anymore. I stopped, the team wiped, I left.
I have my search text "ill/storm Lord of Chaos." I also warn teams of what I am. I've always gotten "that's cool" or "what does that mean, exactly."
Snow Storm acts as AoE control, of a sort. It is also your only power to ground Fliers (unless you have Air Sup). Snow Storm is wonderful in certain situations, such as the ITF where you can anchor it on those EBs and most of the Romans resist control powers -- but not slows.
Yeah, Gale sucks -- most of the time. Once in a while it works as a "Get out of my face" power or a "Go to the back wall of the room" power.
O2 Boost is a weak heal, but also takes care of stuns . . . really nice to use on a teammate who has just used a wakie to help him get back into the fight more quickly, or to take away the perma-stun from Malta. Also useful to heal up Phanty.
Lightning Storm was much, much better before the Pet Recharge Nerf.
I like Steamy Mist because it does so many things. Stealth for everyone in its range on a toggle -- I have been able to prevent turning the corner and drawing aggro many times. Resistance to Fire, Cold and Energy damage. A little bit of Defense.
Yeah, Ill/Storm is a chaotic build. I solo'ed far more than I teamed. On teams, I try to limit the chaos a little bit. -
Rather than asking for a build, it is generally better to put together your own and ask for suggestions for changes. This is because there are a number of choices you can make based upon personal preference and playstyle, and those choices can have a major effect on the build.
For example, on my Ill/Storm, I skipped both Superior Invis and Group Invis by selecting Steamy Mist and using Super Speed for travel. Other folks prefer to take one or both Invis powers, often as a mule for a Luck of the Gambler Recharge IO. Another choice is Flash, Thunderclap or neither? Some folks don't like Deceive (although I think they're nuts). Some folks prefer to skip O2 Boost. Some folks like to fit in Leadership, others like max defense, and others like to build for Recharge with the goal of getting Perma-PA.
Generally, an Ill/Storm is not the best for going up against AVs -- there is no -Regen in the build. Illusion/Radiation is the king of Perma-PA, AV killer builds (See my guide, linked in my sig.)
My Ill/Storm skipped both Invisibilities and Flash from the primary, took everything from the Storm side. I have Hasten/Super Speed and the Fitness Pool. I went with the Ice APP set mostly for Hibernate as a combo Heal/Recovery/Panic Button power, but the Ice Blast works nicely for the Blind-SW-Blast-SW attack chain. -
Overall, your build is pretty good. You have the key powers with the most important slotting. Here are a few suggestions:
Char -- it can contribute to your damage, so I suggest you 6-slot it. You can go with 5 ranged damage and a common hold. Or, if you want to keep the Recharge from Basilisk's Gaze, add an Acc/Dam and common Damage.
Fire Cages: This is used frequently, and really benefits from procs. That Grav Anchor set has some nice bonuses, but I suggest you slot Fire Cages with 3 slots dedicated to Acc and EndRdx, the Grav Anchor Chance for Hold proc and two damage procs -- Trap of the Hunter Lethal and Posi Blast Energy.
Radiation Infection: If you can afford it, 3 Enzyme Hami-Os is perfect slotting for this power. If you have a slot left over, the Achilles Heal Chance for Resistance Debuff is nice. But Dark Watcher would be my second choice.
Hot Feet: Consider replacing that Acc/Dam with a Hami-O Nucl (Acc/Dam) and replace the Recharge with an EndRdx. You will max out Damage and EndRdx, with some Acc and some Slow.
Flashfire: The Stupify set with a Recharge for the Proc is great slotting. If you can get it, the Absolute Amazement purple set is better.
Hover/Fly: Since you spend so much time in melee, consider replacing Hover with Air Superiority. A little extra damage and a quick attack with knockdown when everything else is recharging.
Choking Cloud: Your slotting is good, but consider using the Lockdown Proc, EndRdx/Hold, Acc/Hold/Rech, Hold and Chance for Smashing from Unbreakable Constraint and a common EndRdx.
As for an APP set, I prefer the Psi set, as Indomidible Will helps reduce the number of times my toggles get knocked off. Psi Tornado is nice AoE damage and the Shield helps reduce incoming damage enough to help your heal take care of the rest.
Get a Numina's and Miracle Proc for Health, and the proc for Stamina to help with Endurance issues. You can save up merits rather than having to buy those.
In THIS THREAD, you'll find a few builds; mine is near the end. -
I expect a Kinetics character to have Speed Boost. I consider SB to be one of the best buffs of the game, and it helps teams go through missions faster and rarely running out of endurance. When I have run into folks who don't have SB or refuse to use it for the team, I don't get upset or kick them from the team . . . but I won't team with them again. I find that most people who don't take Speed Boost tend to be selfish . . . not all, but most. SB is a small inconvenience that provides a big benefit for the team.
Now, if you want to solo almost entirely, that's fine. If you want to team, you should warn people that you don't have it so the team leader can choose whether to invite you or not with an understanding of your choice to not take the power.
If you don't like it, don't take it. I suggest you warn people that you don't have it when joining a team, and ask for their understanding. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Frosticus
Not really. You'd have a large "trap" where everything inside stays inside and performs the "gravity well" function as well as can likely be constructed in this game.
The idea is that it is large enough to place around an entire spawn. Stragglers are SOL for being jammed into the clump from the power alone, but that is consistent with single resolution powers like flashfire. Those outside the casting are still being actively mitigated in some form though which is still of minor benfit vs single resolution powers. Unfortunately the chances of it operating in a two distinct functions (ie lets things in, but not out) is unlikely.
I'm doubtful the system can strategically place a series of "minature bonefires minus the damage" like I'm talking about. There is likely no way it could do what you are talking about. You have to find a balance between thematics and what is possible in game. The geometry and precision required for what you are talking about is extreme. The system I'm thinking of only requires the engine to place single function pseudo pets in a circular pattern, which as mentioned I don't think is even possible unfortunately.
The idea of repelling pseudo pets is fine, but it could never be aimed. It would go in all directions at which point you are doing the same thing I suggested just trading kb for repel. KB offers more mitigation so that would be more to my liking, but repel is probably more visually satisfying of the criteria. Of course it could do both like singy, which is even better.
For clarification what I'm talking about is essentially a ring of singularities that don't attack just kb/repel away from the entity. Anything inside the ring has been trapped in the gravity sink. Anything outside of it is repelled from it. More powerful foes would have the ability to escape the sink and there is absolutely nothing preventing you from using the unique aoe foe teleport also found in gravity to put stragglers into it. In fact it is encouraged.
The goal, I think, would be to make a spot which has a chance to pull foes into the center. I think that the knockback around the outside would defeat the purpose, and the inside would not be functionally different than either an Immobilize or a knockdown zone, depending on how it worked. It would also require placing a huge pseudopet -- bigger than anything else in the game. It's an interesting idea, but I don't think it would work all that well to be a "black hole" attraction kind of power. -
AND Guardian fall down and go boom again on 5/8 at about 2:47 pm EST.
And I was in the middle of a timed mish . . . -
Ice/Storm is a remarkably flexible set. And you can choose to build it for melee or for ranged play. Personally, I went with the melee build using Arctic Air, but you can choose to to a ranged build using Shiver. I tried to make mine as solo-able as possible by taking Air Superiority and Chilblain (slotted as a damage power).
As a melee-oriented character, mine actually teams better with a tank or scrapper. Let the Tank or Scrapper go in to get initial aggro, then Ice Slick or Freezing Rain to knock-em all down. Then I run in with AA on to mitigate about 60-70% of the damage while I contribute to damage with Block of Ice, Chilblain and Air Sup, using Lightning Storm or Tornado when needed. For me, Hurricane is a situational but handy power. O2 Boost to heal my melee buddies. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Donna_
I have an Illusion controller with no pets, and it's the best empath you'l come accross, Healing and buffing does not break invisibility as it is not an offensive action.Yeah . . . it is very tempting to say that being an Empath only controller IS "an offensive action" . . .Quote:Originally Posted by Zandock
I'm not going to say it...
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Quote:Is it possible to program in a "black hole" kind of power? Certainly. But if the game engine was not built with that option in mind, it would require some significant programming to either change the game engine or figure out a work-around -- and that's time they can't spend doing everything else. It is not a question of whether it is "possible," but whether it makes sense in light of limited resources.Originally Posted by Windenergy21
I still REALLY don't understand how the devs can't figure how to work this. I have next to no programming knowledge i'll admit, but the tiny I did have seems to me like the equation they use to determine knockback/repel, when centerered around an origin/radial point, has a value that increases from that point. Hence above .67, the higher the value, the farther the knockback or repel. The devs set the numbers from 0-.67 to do knockdown only. Seems like all they would have to do is make the knockback/repel value a negative number for each pulse that the power would do to draw them to the center.
I DO know, that its possible to do this. What I don't know, is what is so borked about the game engine that they can't, or can't seem to figure out how to get this done. Obviously it's a different engine perhaps, but just look at the Spiderman games like Spiderman 2, where you would pull the enemy towards you with your web, or even back as far as the 2-d and 3-d Mortal Kombat games with Scorpion. It's definitely possible. Not sure where the hangup lies. -
With the concept of the Invisibile Woman from the Fantastic Four, I would lean towards doing an FF/Energy Defender with the stealth pool. Or, you could do Super Speed + a Stealth Proc, and have no suppression for attacking whatsoever. Make sure that the blasts are as colorless as possible.
Personally, I would find a petless Illusionist to be an exercise in frustration. Ugh. You would be left with Blind, Spectral Wounds, Deceive, two kinds of invis and Flash. You would be cutting out PA, Spooky and Phanty.
My favorite invisible character? Invisible Boy from the Mystery Men -- he was only invisible when nobody was looking. -
Quote:I think there has already been a Dev comment that the "Gravity Sink" won't work with the current game engine. There is no mechanism to pull foes into a spot, only knock them back from a spot. It would be cool, though.Originally Posted by Windenergy21
I was thinking this combo too, though the aoe immobilize won't do much good since you'll be timing the time bomb if you use it to wormhole the enemies when it goes off, since the aoe immobilize doesn't have -kb. But been looking for a decent grav toon I wouldn't mind actually playing. Grav is just still far too lacking of control for my taste atm and doesn't really make up for it in any other way. They need to swap dimension shift into my "gravity sink" power asap :/. (think bonfire only in reverse direction, and repel + knockdown instead of knockback, rech/duration of earthquake and ice slick)
I felt the same way about Gravity until I finally got a Grav/Storm up to the 20's. AoE Immob without knockback protection + Freezing Rain = Knockdown field with huge debuff. Hurricane gives me individual protection from other foes while I use my attack chain to take down one. And Wormholing into a corner where I have already set up Lightning Storm and have Hurricane ready to lock them down into the corner, plus Thunderclap to stack mag on the stun -- almost as good as wormholing into traps. And Grav/Storm gets much better when Singy is able to draw aggro (while I stay invisible in Steamy Mist+Super Speed). While it may not be the fastest killing controller, I can tell you that it is one of the most fun solo controllers I have played because of the opportunities for complex strategy. Lots of chaos is fun. -
My Illusion/Radiation guide has a section in the beginning for people new to controllers. That might be helpful.
An important factor is whether you expect to mostly solo or team. Your strategies will be quite different. Grav/Kin is not the combo I would suggest to someone new to controllers, but there are no bad controllers -- some are just a little better than others. But if it is fun for you, that's all that matters.
Gravity is fairly strong on single target control, but weak on AoE control. If you plan to solo, your single target attack chain can be Gravity Distortion-Crush (slotted as a damage power) - Propel. That chain takes a while to animate, but it deals out a lot of damage thanks to Containment. However, on teams, the animation on Propel is so long that often foes will be dead before they get smacked by whatever item is thrown at them from Propel. Some people who mostly team go with Lift instead of Propel -- you give up some damage, but a lot of the damage from Propel is wasted.
Most people skip Dimension Shift -- and intangible powers are widely cursed because it is often hard to tell when a foe is intangible, so teammates keep attacking a foe they can't hurt. There are some uses to DimShift, but it is easily the weakest power in the Gravity set.
Gravity takes a while before you get your two best powers, Wormhole and Singularity. They come at 26 and 32. Wormhole is a really fun and unique power -- an AoE foe teleport with Stun and knockback that you can use around corners. Singy is your pet, and arguably the toughest in the game (other than Phantom Army and Phantasm's decoy, who are invulnerable).
Kinetics is a busy set -- very clicky and tends to encourage you to be in melee. It is mostly buffs -- the only significant defensive power, Repel, is the most frequently skipped power in the set. Kinetics makes a travel power optional. Most kinetics players have a love/hate relationship with Speed Boost -- it is one of the best ally buffs in the game, but only lasts 2 minutes so it runs out quickly. It is a good idea to set up binds to "SB" your teammates. If you solo mostly, then Speed Boost may be fully skippable. -
Gratz! Knocking off AVs with an Ill/Storm is harder than it used to be before the pet recharge nerf. It used to be that high recharge in Lightning Storm allowed the Storm to fire off very often, but that doesn't work any more. Since Ill/Storm has no -Regen, you have to put out enough damage to overcome the AV's Regen.