So, What's the Controller's 'Thing'?

[Ryujin]

Funny how dazing and immobilizing actually work wonders in preventing enemies from going and doing whatever it is they want to do.

If there's a brute, and I immobilize him five squares away from the party, great news, he's out of the fight completely. He isn't running around back to flank or charging the leader. If used properly, immobilize does EXACTLY what I describe.

Dazed is very similiar, when used properly, it does exactly what I describe. Daze a foe, everyone moves one square out, and the enemy can move a square or do nothing. That monster is out of the fight.

It's not the specific effects controllers get, it's their ability to leverage them that other roles don't have.

It's for this reason, that I sometimes refer to the Feylock as a single target Controller. My Fey/Darklock combo was pretty good at the role. There was quite a variety of things I could do.

"Why are you hitting the air?"

"Why are you hitting your buddy?"

"Why are you hitting yourself?"

"What are you doing over there, 30 feet in the air?"

"Launch necrotic smoke ring #1. Buh-bye minions."

"Launch bigger necrotic smoke ring #2. Buh-bye Soldiers."

"Go away for a little while, won't you? Another plane of existence would be nice."

"Take some damage. Now get away from me, or take a whole bunch more. Go away son, ya bother me."

"Go over there and take a whole bunch of damage."

"You might want to think twice about hitting me 'cause 10 of your cursed buddies just dropped, and hitting me is REALLY gonna hurt "

And that's pretty much how I played my "Faceless" Eladrin Warlock; flippant and dismissive, when he bothered to talk at all.

Some of the classes not only share the abilities of other classes, but really blur the edges of the roles.

 

[DracoSuave]

It's for this reason, that I sometimes refer to the Feylock as a single target Controller. My Fey/Darklock combo was pretty good at the role. There was quite a variety of things I could do.

Certainly can't dispute that, and I think that's partially why the binder class type was invented.

 

[Herschel]

Controllers are not a beginner's class, they're for tacticians to use properly, and require forethought in building above and beyond 'take feats that make my damage/healing/defenses bigger!' It can't be that simple, they are complicated by their nature.

Not to mention, controller classes are internally prone to distinct methods and strategies of control.

Repeated for emphasis. I think one of the biggest issues players had coming to 4E was that the Wizard was no longer the solo party blaster who dominates the game. When one loses sight of what the controller does well, they really lose touch with what makes teh role great.

 

[jimmifett]

My explanation of controllers comes from the video games world, specifically, Left 4 Dead 2.

Controllers are a combination of Smokers and Spitters.

Spitters throw down zones that it's enemies want to avoid, giving the spitter's team control of the field, and sets up choke points and can seperate the party.

Smokers move enemies around. Good example, is on the roof of No Mercy campaign, smoking the survivor as they come up the ladder and drag them into a corner that sets up a situation for the Charger (a brute) to charge the survivor right off the edge of the roof to it's death.

Another good example is to pull backwards the trailing survivor during a horde rush, pulling him away from his allies. Seperate the party, the damage dealers move in and work them down.

You don't get a lot of kills as a controller, you set up the battlefield to make it easier for your party to make kills.

Take a hunter and a slayer specialized in charging.

The slayer charges, +1 (more like +2), but is now adjacent to enemy. The hunter uses her ability to slide the enemy 1 square away from the fighter. The fighter can now take a setp back, and charge AGAIN, getting that extra bonus to hit. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.