Local_Man

<Thinks of several inappropriate responses . . . >

On the new build: I have already mentioned twice that the Miracle Unique should be in Health, not Transfusion, if you keep it at all. Frankly, with a Fire/Kin with Stamina, I don't think you need it.

My suggestion on Fire Cages was to replace the Immobilize with the Chance for Hold, but keep the damage proc. Since Fire Cages is used so much, I think the damage proc is worth having in there.

You replaced the Leadership toggles with Fighting toggles. Meh. I suppose those might increase your survival, and those are not uncommon choices for farming builds. Personally, I prefer more active choices. Since I tend to be more team-oriented, I like having Increase Density and Bonfire. I also would not move Speed Boost back, as it will be needed for any teams if you exemp down (for TFs or under the new Super Sidekick system for I-16). I usually take Speed Boost at 22 on my Kin controllers.

This is a very expensive build -- I hope you have lots of Infl.

For my Ice/Storm, I used all the EndRdx/Confuse I could fit in, and only added Damage procs once I had Endrdx and Confuse capped. I was able to have both the Malaise and Cacaphony damage procs in there. At 50, I have EndRdx/Confuse, Confuse and the Contagious Confusion proc from Coersive Persuasion (purple set), EndRdx/Conf and Chance for Psi Damage from Malaise and a common EndRdx. Capped EndRdx and Confuse, with the two procs. Works great, even if the damage doesn't happen all that often. The added Recovery from the two sets helps.

With the nice set of purples in Fire Cages, I would take slots out of Stamina and a few other places rather than Fire Cages. I don't feel it is worth 6-slotting Stamina, especially on a Fire/Kin where Stamina is almost optional. (Don't have a caniption fit, Mental Maden -- I said "almost.") Three EndMod and maybe the Shifter Proc, but the proc is not really needed due to Transference. Consider taking the EndMod/EndRdx out of Speed Boost, or the Defense out of Combat Jumping. Those would provide more benefit in Char.

And that Gravitational Anchor Chance for Hold Proc would be great in Fire Cages in place of the Immobilize.

If you spam Fire Cages . . . then you don't need to slot for Immobilize duration. That Chance for Hold proc is great.

Put the Miracle in Health, where it will work continuously. There is no benefit to having it in Transfusion if you can put it in Health.

Char: Fire Cages won't keep them from shooting at you. The single target hold does far more damage on a single target, uses less endurance, and takes the target out of the fight. So, I use it constantly for single targets and between casts of Fire Cages. My biggest problem on my Fire/Kin is getting mezzed, and Char takes that foe out of the fight. Char lets me focus on the bosses, letting the imps and my AoEs take care of the rest.

It is your playstyle . . . but I have trouble seeing how using Char as part of your standard attack chain wouldn't be better than whatever it is that you're doing.

It works fine on all of my many controllers. It works on all characters, but may need to be modified for VEATS and the newer powersets. For the powersets that have been recently added, I just pick another similar set and modify the binds, which is easy to do if you understand binds at all.

CityBinder includes a lot of binds for Kheldians and Masterminds, making them much easier to play. For Khelds, it has the tray-switching binds built in. For Masterminds, it has many special sets of binds for selecting and controller your henchmen, including easy Bodyguard mode and binds to attack while remaining in Bodyguard mode.

Spectral Terror a/k/a Spooky does fine with no slots at all other than his default. Unless I want some set bonuses, my standard slotting is 1 Recharge or 1 Acc/Fear/Rech in the default slot -- but I don't think it makes much of a difference. Go ahead and test it to see if there is any significant difference.

Everyone has their own playstyle -- my advice is generally based upon my own experience plus what I see from others on the Boards . . . but if you like to do things differently, then have fun!

Rather than Defense, I try to use strategy. Defeating and mezzing foes is better than defense, and faster, too. I use invisibility and range, take foes out of the fight with Deceive (I use it a lot) and then send in the Army. At that point, the foes should be focused on the PA and not me. I will often take out tougher foes by Deceiving them first -- Not only does it prevent retribuition, but defeating a Deceived foe generally does not alert other foes around him. If a foe comes after me, I use Deceive to make him turn around.

I use Snow Storm a fair amount on tough bosses. It is especially great on the ITF, where those guys resist most mez effects but are strongly affected by slows. O2 Boost is used more to heal up Phanty on those few occastions he gets hit, and to remove stuns from teammates -- I might heal someone up between fights, but not if there is anyone else with a heal.

My experience with Super Speed + Steamy Mist is not the same -- I can /e Dance in front of any foes who do not have +perception with that combo. The only time that SI is better is against foes with +Perception -- you can get a little closer before being seen. Steamy alone or Super Speed alone won't do it, but the combo = full invisibility at the cap of 600. You can do the same thing by using Steamy + Stealth IO, or SS + Stealth IO. (That's why my Ice/Storm is a flyer -- he uses the Stealth IO + Steamy.)

Tactics and Maneuvers do nothing for Tornado or Lightning Storm. Assault might add a little damage, but not much, and I'm not sure that it affects even them. Tornado is one of the few powers in the game that is Autohit, so Tactics is worthless. Lightning Storm has very high accuracy, well over the accuracy cap. Neither can be hit, so Maneuvers is worthless. So, those leadership toggles only affect your Phantasm and your teammates -- and as I said, I think there are better things you could be doing.

You are correct -- you did have Recharge on Freezing Rain to have it recharge in 18 sec. I prefer the Lady Grey set in there, but that's up to you.

There are a few key factors that you don't take into account. Phantom Army will not receive any of your accuracy (To Hit -- mostly the same thing) from either Tactics or any IO bonuses -- other than slots in the power, they are unbuffable. Maneuvers, will of course, provide no benefit either. PA is your most important power. It needs Recharge and Damage and a little bit of accuracy. The Chance for Build Up proc from Soulbound Allegence is, as far as I know, the only proc that provides any benefit.

Phantasm doesn't need Defense or Resistance -- he floats at range, casting his Decoy to draw aggro and blasting. Every once in a while, he will draw aggro himself and get wiped out, but it is rare enough that it is not worth slotting for it -- just re-cast. Phanty is one of the most durable pets (comparable to Singy and Rocky) without any resistance or defense. It is very rare that I have to re-cast Phanty because he has been defeated (less than once every ten missions or more), and it certainly is not worth using slots for his protection.

Now, leadership is more debatable. There are some folks who love it. Personally, I think it is less desireable on controller builds because Controllers usually have other powers that will provide more benefit. And, truthfully, I find those toggles to be boring and annoying. I try to fit in Leadership on my Defenders, and have one controller with it currently, but unless I am on a team that is regularly playing together and stacking the Leadership benefits, I find that Leadership on a controller is not the best choice. An Ill/Storm has way too many effective and fun powers to choose from to fit in Leadership -- especially since it has almost no benefit to the pets.

Freezing Rain -- I use it at the start of every battle, and if the battle goes for long, I may use it again unless I think I'll need it at the start of the next battle. With enough Recharge, it can be perma -- and you want it to be. It has so many good benefits that it is a matter of "want" rather than "need." Because Defense Debuff stops having much of an effect once you hit the 95% accuracy cap, max slotting for Defense debuff is far less important than Recharge.

Damage is king in this game, even for a team-oriented character. Don't pass up an easy opportunity for damage. 6-slotting Superior Invis while leaving only two slots in Spectral Wounds is a big mistake in my opinion. On the other hand, a single Posi Blast in Gale is wasted. Just drop a common Accuracy in that power if you rarely use it. If you want to use it with any regularity, it needs at least 2 accuracy before anything else, as it has reduced accuracy.

In your build, you have almost ignored your storm secondary. Freezing Rain at 22 (Always take it at 16!), Hurricane, Tornado and Lightning Storm are the only powers you took to level up with. You threw in Steamy Mist and O2 Boost at 47 and 49, unslotted. You are substantially missing out on the joy of a good Stormie. Illusion has no AoE control powers, but Storm provides a great AoE Slow with -Recharge early in in the set with Snow Storm. Use it situationally, but it can be a huge help. Steamy Mist provides team stealth, a little team defense and good Resistance to three types of damage -- and is a good place to slot either Karma or Steadfast -Knockback procs. (I used Super Speed + Steamy Mist for invisibility and dropped both SI and GI -- letting me take more Storm powers.) Constantly use Freezing Rain for its debuffs and control. Hurricane is situational, but can provide Defense (of a kind) through its huge ToHit Debuff. Use the storm powers properly and the Illusion ability to distract, and you have a lot less of a need for Defense -- I suggest you focus more on the powers themselves and less on the bonuses.

Take a look at Tal_N's Ill/Storm guide. It has a lot to show you what the combo can do.

I have no idea on the cost. Stuff varies widely from minute to minute. However, I tried to avoid many of the sets that are often very costly -- the only purple set is the Confuse one, which is usually one of the less expensive. I avoided using Luck of the Gambler Recharges, and only used one set of Basilisk's Gaze. I used a Karma -knockback instead of the Zephyr one. The only other really expensive IOs I included were the Numina and Miracle Uniques for buffing the Regen and Recovery rates. I usually get those with Merits so I don't have to buy them. (But then, I'm not a marketeer or a farmer . . . I get my Infl by playing the game and doing TFs. My richest character only has about 115 mil Infl -- but I have a LOT of characters on various servers.)

By the way, if you just wait until I-16, we should get a free respec with that issue which should be hitting live any day now. If you have any characters who still have the last Freespec, use it now, as those don't stack -- you only get one. Freespecs are the Respecs you can use by typing /Respec anywhere in the game. All the others require you to go back to that guy in Galaxy blue side -- I'm not sure who the contact is Red side, as I don't play that side much.

I think it is a little presumptuous to say that a particular controller "should" do one thing or another. It varies with different playstyles and powerset combos. For example, my Ice controller is Ice/Storm . . . I don't need Shiver as a third slow power. I use Snow Storm instead of Shiver, and I have the slow in Freezing Rain as well. An Ice/Rad has Ling Rad, and an Ice/TA has Glue Arrow.

I do feel that Ice controllers can choose to stay at range by NOT choosing Arctic Air. Some prefer to play at range (like an Ice/TA might want to do). I'm not saying that having both Shiver and AA is a bad idea, but it can vary with playstyle and powersets.

I-16 is adding World of Confusion as a 5th power in the Psi APP set for Controllers.