Getting back to dcuo as a controller?

i have been out the game for a few years but i have a few questions,
1. what is the buff controllers loadout is it similar to a power controller?

2. which controller power is great for support only that won't effect the tank and amazing to support the team?

3. What allies are great for controllers?

4. Is there a situarion when you have to switch a power troller, buff troller or battery troller for different situation or do I have to be always a buff troller?

Please and thank you.

1. buff controllers are more determined by artifacts than they are by loadout. you'll want to work on the Tetrahedron, Parasite Harness, and Amulet of Rao, most likely,

2. the best two controllers are probably (still) mental and quantum. Mental can turn enemies into helpless gibbering goblin kinder and quantum has top notch stuns and quantum tunneling, which is best in class mobility for pickups, mechanics, et cetera.

3. i don't think there is a controller specific Ally, really, but I recommend Cyborg for the power regen passive and Krypto or the HoL bot for the cheap Boss damage

4. the short answer is "not really"; all Controller Abilities provide power over time now and you can basically spam the Burst Regen, so you have a lot of flexibility for the basic playstyle. it's possible to dial it in though I'm not a great person to ask since my favorite controller build is the Controller DPS.

Loadouts for either playstyle are exactly the same. The only difference is the Claw of Aelkhund for buff controllers turns your weapon buff/power heal into a group stat buff and removes the power heal.

If you're low on SP I would just stick to regular power healing. Buff Controlling requires you to spec completely into Vitalization + Health and still have some leftover to put into Might/Power so you don't run out of power yourself. The only situation where a buff control is required is in elite content, other than that everything is 100% optional.

Just to offer some variety or a different playstyle, for #3 I would say there are a few options. In general, your ally choice will be centered around preference and situation.

Cyborg, as mentioned above, is a solid, non resource expensive ally that helps with power regen if you find you are lacking. It also doubles as one of the better AoE combat allies.

Nubia is another ally I like to run when controlling or even just solo/AoE DPSing. She has a passive ability that buffs might and precision for the group upon killing an enemy so it fits nicely with the buff controller playstyle for AoE or bosses with multiple enemies. (Amazonian Honor)

Batman Who Laughs is another solid and versatile ally. Luck of the Draw is an all purposed passive that randomly selects between 4 various buffs. (health, crit chance, power regen and stat buff) The other passive might be even better for controllers as well because the defense debuff from the finisher toxin it provides stacks with your other controller debuff. (Toxic Encore)

Death Metal Batman is another option in my opinion. Their combat ability hits the enemies with all three debuffs before it deals its damage. The second way it can possibly help is by using the passive that drops a Power over Time pool upon casting a debuff. That provides PoT for any teammates entering its radius. (Black Lantern Energy Steal)

Again, these are just options for different ideas, playstyles or situations. Allies can get very resource heavy and I would advise caution in choosing where you want to apply your favor and catalysts.

Welcome back and I hope you enjoy being back on the game.

1. what is the buff controllers loadout is it similar to a power controller?
The loadout will pretty much be the same, it's mostly dependent on your artifacts. All Controllers will run Amulet of Rao, but buff trolls should at minimum have Claw of Aelkhund, then one (or preferably both) of Cog of Mageddon or Tetrahedron of Urgrund. Top buff trolls have will have even more and utilize them all by swapping constantly.

2. which controller power is great for support only that won't effect the tank and amazing to support the team?
Quantum. Can use all three debuffs without hard CCing the adds and messing up tanks' CC rotation. Also its troll shield absorbs the most damage. Every other power can more easily make adds immune.

3. What allies are great for controllers?
Cyborg is good for power, Nubia or Queen Diana to somewhat buff the group, Death Metal Batman for power, BMWL for extra stats or defense debuff with the finisher.

4. Is there a situarion when you have to switch a power troller, buff troller or battery troller for different situation or do I have to be always a buff troller?
You can just swap your arts and augments to change your playstyle. Or mix and match. A top tier buff troll will maintain power and buffs at the same time. Most groups will want a buff troll. The only time you might want to power troll (or just have more Vitalization) is when the raid has a hard-to-avoid power drain mechanic, when you have a Gadgets DPS, or the tanks/healers are spamming (which they shouldn't be but it could happen).


If you are basically just starting out, I would recommend not trolling at all TBH. Power trolls are not very useful currently, though some desperate groups may pick one up. Buff trolling is heavily dependent on maxed artifacts and a good amount of SP. DPS' can just cruise by more easily, Tanks can make up for lack of equipment with skill, Healers have lower requirements of arts and SP to be effective.

When it comes to the traditional buff troll you’ll mostly be looking at arts more than loadout. These days it’s easy to sustain power so you won’t normally need to switch out if a buff troller set up. I’ll list the standard set up below for a buff troller. Keep in mind that you can make changes based on what you like to do but what I list below will be a more standard set up.

Loadout:
Defense debuff, attack debuff, heal debuff, group power heal, personal shield, sc shield
*look for your sc generator. All troll sc generators also apply a debuff. So slot that in based on the above set up. The gadgets sc generator encases enemies which can hurt the group. If you use it make sure you can break the encase too. If not don’t use it.

Artifacts:
Claw, rao, tetrahedron
*if you normally run with prec dps than use cog instead of tetra but tetra is a safe bet since many prec dps use might abilities to clip anyways.

Allies:
Combat: any damaging ally (krypto for st or superman/cyborg for AoE. Can just use krypto)
Passive: death metal Batman (1st passive)
*this drops an AoE field that restores power to anyone who steps in it. I prefer to drop it on top of the healers.
Passive 2: Batman who laughs (either passive)
*first passive will give you a random buff
*second passive will apply a defense debuff if they are below a 45% health that stacks with your defense debuff. You’ll need to use your finisher.

You can also use cyborg if you want a cheaper ally. Doesn’t really help the group but it helps make sure you have power in order to do your job.


As for what power. You can basically be any power.

Sorry for the late response and Thank you so for your information, I'm gonna try Quantum and I will use the advice u gave with the allies as well. Thank you again.

I have been seeing online about artifact switching and controllers to switch artifacts to help your raid out more but that's after a higher or to keep it fun, I saw a video from ikaraoke

Can I do now as a quantum or can I also try hard light in the future since for that gameplay style I have to use the bop commlink?

And in using the 6 to 7 artifacts at 200 item lv, do I need to have a skill points requirement to play at this level?

Sorry for the late response, and thank you so much for your insight, I'm trying to level up now the claw of aeklund, I finally got it to 160, thanks to so much leftover nt metal but may I ask is 418 skill points is it too low for buff troller? Also thanks for the heads in using vitalization and health, do I have to use dom augments as well for the health?

Im sorry for the late response, Thank you so much for our detailed guide and advice on the allies, I'm gonna try to get the allies you have recommended me to use.

You should be ok with 418. I would spec Superpowered over Hybrid to help out with your power management. If your power management isn't an issue for you go Hybrid for the Vit buff. After you take all your Power Heal Crits, max out Vit and dump what ever you have left into: Health for increased buffs, or Power for better power management, or split between the two.

For your Augments it's whatever you are most comfortable with. You can use the Dominance Augments to improve your buffs but if your groups are struggling with power I would swap them out for the Vitalization Augments.

I have 513 sp and how i spec my troll is i max power crits, the might and power stat and dump the rest into vit. I don't worry about Dom because the troll gear will give you more than enough. I find with this i have unlimited power to give out and do a little damage as well. If you have low sp like under 200 then i recommend just dumping everything into vit. As far as my loadouts go i make sure i have the 3 debuffs, my give power thingy and shields.

Sorry for the late response thank you for this extensive information and guide, I'm following through everything you have said especially I chose quantum and than you again.

Thank you so much for all this extensive information and sorry for the late late response, I appreciate you explaining the loadout, the artifacts and the allies info. May I ask if having hard light controller is good for buff controllers or stick to quantum?

You can go with which ever you personally like. Most prefer quantum because one of its shields is also a teleport which gives them a edge in some situations. HL isn’t the easiest for some since a lot of their debuffs are channel or have limited range (some move you closer too). However the debuffs will work even if you don’t hit. And those that move you forward can be clipped anyways. But in general they all function the same and use the same base set up. So power sets don’t have any major impact on trolling the way healing and especially tanking do.

I have a question when controlling what weapon combo I use habd blast - solar flare, wm brawling to shuriken or aa different combo?

If you are using Hybrid focus you would be better with hand blaster or any other non-mastery combo, because the cross-weapon part of combos does not provide power regeneration. If you are using Superpowered focus then you can use a mastery in order to increase your damage out and help a bit your group, if you have the spare SP, of course.

Thank you so much for ur response n detailed information.

Better question is what’s your skill points, and more so do you have a league?

Currently I'm 440 skill points and I'm no league.