Dragon 382 - Controllers: Breaking the utility power paradigm

[Klaus]

The challenge remains:
- how to justify area attacks?
- how to manipulate/"control" enemies at range?
Archery and/or high speed might be the right tools, but does it still feel "martial" if you try to make an entire controller class, with zones, effects and all that...

What caught my eye was the phrase "force the enemy to take certain actions". A zone isn't placed to cause damage, for instance. It's placed so the enemies get out of it. What about something like this:

Feign Opening
Daily X Martial, Weapon
Standard Melee Weapon
Int vs. AC
Damage one foe. Make a secondary attack.
Secon. target: burst 3 within 10 squares
Int. vs. Will
Hit: Pulls enemies to the center of the burst, and they grant combat advantage.

???

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

What caught my eye was the phrase "force the enemy to take certain actions". A zone isn't placed to cause damage, for instance. It's placed so the enemies get out of it. What about something like this:

Feign Opening
Daily X Martial, Weapon
Standard Melee Weapon
Int vs. AC
Damage one foe. Make a secondary attack.
Secon. target: burst 3 within 10 squares
Int. vs. Will
Hit: Pulls enemies to the center of the burst, and they grant combat advantage.

???

Hmm. Have some flavor text for that?

 

[mikegillnz]

Sorry if this has been suggested previously, but I would have thought that the obvious idea for a martial controller would be some sort of trap-master.

Traps are basically zones of danger and controlling terrain in 4e encounters - it would seem the logical fit to me. Although that would necessitate moving in close to place them so could be quite a switch from the usual wizard/invoker ranged controller.

 

[Klaus]

Hmm. Have some flavor text for that?

Feign an Opening
You move to strike a nearby foe, even if it exposes an opening your enemies move in to exploit... just like you wanted.

 

[Skallgrim]

Frankly, I don't even think the new utilities are that good. Considering they cost a feat, I think I'll stick with my badass wizard utilities.

QFT. These feat/utilities are pretty good, but many Wizard (and other) utilities are also really good, AND they don't eat a feat slot too.

In addition, some of them are neat, but useless in particular situations. Say you have the one which pushes people out of the area of effect. Awesome in some situations, in others, say, where you create a zone with lasting damage, down-right counter-productive. Obviously, in that case, you don't use it, but for each of those cases, the value of your feat & utility slot eating Controller coolness goes down.

 

[Vartan]

QFT. These feat/utilities are pretty good, but many Wizard (and other) utilities are also really good, AND they don't eat a feat slot too.

In addition, some of them are neat, but useless in particular situations. Say you have the one which pushes people out of the area of effect. Awesome in some situations, in others, say, where you create a zone with lasting damage, down-right counter-productive. Obviously, in that case, you don't use it, but for each of those cases, the value of your feat & utility slot eating Controller coolness goes down.

For certain builds (a pushy Invoker, an blast Wizard) the Destructive/Explosive/Forceful effects might be worth a Utility slot, but I can't see myself spending a Feat AND a Utility slot on these daily powers.

To wit: Feats characterize persistent aspects of your character's style, customizations which broadly reflect how you go about your business. Utility powers can (among many othe things) augment an attack. Put these two together and it's a potentially cool way to add some flavor and nifty crunch to your build...but if you spend a Feat and Utility slot to get in the door (because you want to characterize your Invoker to be extra pushy or your blaster Wizard to serve up Extra Crispy instead of Original Recipe) then I think those Utilities should be Encounter powers. It would, IMO, actually make a nice balance.

As for Utility powers in general: they're one of my favorite parts of the game because they're so versatile. Combat or Non-combat, you can take powers that fit the game in which you'll be playing. In pretty much every LFR module I've layed or run there has been at least one (often more) socially-oriented Skill Challenges. My Wizard became a powerhouse in one such adventure by using Arcane Mutterings (plus it's fun to roleplay). My Rogue, on the other hand, gets by with Streetwise and Bluff, so I took Utilities that helped me move around the battlefield. Utility powers give you ways to do cool things that aren't, in and of themselves, attacks: there's such a great variety, especially with the new Skill Powers, that you can find powers to fit your character, group and campaign.

 

[Thundergod]

This. Utility powers don't usually deal damage by themselves, but many of them are combat-oriented powers. The powers in the article are essentially self-buffs and along the lines of other similar powers.

Chaotic Defense deals damage each time you are attacked.

 

[FireLance]

Chaotic Defense deals damage each time you are attacked.

You expect a power named chaotic defense* to follow the rules?

Seriously, though - it has a random effect, and the damage-dealing element only shows up 50% of the time. In addition, it doesn't automatically deal damage; an enemy has to attack you first. Finally, Khur already caveated his statement with words like "usually" and "many".

* Sorcerer Utility 6, Arcane Power