Tony Vargas
Legend
Controllers are, necessarily, a little less valuable against solos, just like strikers are a little less valuable against minions. It's unavoidable, since the Controller works largely by action denial, and Solos' actions are exceedingly high-value. A solo who takes no actions is just a pinata. The flip side of the Controller's protfolio, AEs and area denial, also not a big deal in a solo battle.
It's just the nature of the solo battle. In prior eds, a single enemy could often be aced in the first round by a high-DC save. The opposite problem - and what you'd end up with trying to give controllers their usual sort of control vs a solo.
When I played a 4e wizard in a campaign, I noticed - and was not surprised to find - that solos weren't the most enjoyable opponents. Most encounters, if nothing else, I got to make multiple attack rolls every round. Solos, blah, condition-inflicting, very marginal, AE/multi-attack, meaningless. What I finally did was take Mordenkainen's Sword. A really not very good spell, most of the time. I'd cast it vs Solos, giving me a minor action attack, and thus two attack roll/round. Not awe-inspiring, but less boring than making one attack roll per round... Flaming Sphere can have a similar use, as well as occupying a square, which can occassionally get in the way of a Large solo's shift. Prone is also great, it's an action, not a save, to end, and can screw with immediate or extra actions that involve movement.
It also helps if you delay (or your allies do) to get in a helpful spot, initiative-wise. If you do drop a condition on a Solo that might help your allies (granting CA, losing resistance, unable to OA, whatever), doing it right after the monster lets your whole party take advantage of it - /you/ don't get to take advantage if he saves, but at least everyone else does.
It's just the nature of the solo battle. In prior eds, a single enemy could often be aced in the first round by a high-DC save. The opposite problem - and what you'd end up with trying to give controllers their usual sort of control vs a solo.
When I played a 4e wizard in a campaign, I noticed - and was not surprised to find - that solos weren't the most enjoyable opponents. Most encounters, if nothing else, I got to make multiple attack rolls every round. Solos, blah, condition-inflicting, very marginal, AE/multi-attack, meaningless. What I finally did was take Mordenkainen's Sword. A really not very good spell, most of the time. I'd cast it vs Solos, giving me a minor action attack, and thus two attack roll/round. Not awe-inspiring, but less boring than making one attack roll per round... Flaming Sphere can have a similar use, as well as occupying a square, which can occassionally get in the way of a Large solo's shift. Prone is also great, it's an action, not a save, to end, and can screw with immediate or extra actions that involve movement.
It also helps if you delay (or your allies do) to get in a helpful spot, initiative-wise. If you do drop a condition on a Solo that might help your allies (granting CA, losing resistance, unable to OA, whatever), doing it right after the monster lets your whole party take advantage of it - /you/ don't get to take advantage if he saves, but at least everyone else does.
