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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LightWarden" data-source="post: 6744897" data-attributes="member: 6803540">This section is probably the most outdated at the moment, as it was written before many of the later booksOriginally posted by alien270:Controller classes Druid Overview: Primary stat: WIS; Secondary stats: DEX, CONThe Druid is unique, in that it is currently the only melee controller in the game. Its main strength is versatility, and being able to switch between melee and ranged with a minor action (free action in paragon, if you take the Quick Wild Shape feat). I would recommend balancing beast form and caster powers so you can take advantage of this versatility as opposed to making a "pure caster" or a "pure beast form" Druid, though those routes are certainly playable.   Predator Druids (DEX secondary) should emphasize mobility and speed in beast form. You get a free +1 speed bonus by going this route (so at level 1 an Elf has a base speed of 8!!!), so take advantage of it. It's easy to overly emphasize your Striker secondary role as a Predator, so dont' forget to focus on control effects! Overall, they arguably have the best riders of the Druid builds.Guardian Druids are a bit tougher (they use CON for AC, which also conveniently gives them more HP and surges), but not as fast or mobile. Their secondary role is leader, but don't expect to provide much healing support. They're very good at forced movement.Swarm Druids (CON secondary) are extremely durable, as they get a swarm-like damage reduction against melee and ranged attacks while in beast form, and they can take the feat Hide Armor Expertise to use their Con in place of Dex or Int for AC. They have a lot of close burst/blast attacks, some of which are not party friendly, so feel free to wade into groups of enemies but be careful that you don't hit your friends!Summoner Druids are not a distinct build. Any Druid can specialize in summoning to whatever extent they please. This could range from picking up a single Daily summoning power, to filling all Daily slots with summoning powers, picking up summoning feats, and choosing a summoning Paragon Path (Pack Lord or Primal Summoner). Pros: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Versatile (can switch between range and melee) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Can cover any secondary role </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Excellent at-will powers, and access to 3 of them (or 4 if human) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Leader HP/surges </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Great mobility (wild shaping grants shifting, predator druids get +1 to speed) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Summons have instinctive actions, thus they are low maintenance </li> </ul>Cons: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> AoE's are generally smaller than a Wizards and less party friendly than an Invokers </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Being in melee makes you an attractive target </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In Heroic, sustain minors can be problematic if you want to wild shape, move, and attack </li> </ul>Secondary Roles: Show[sblock]Striker – Predator Druids really shine as secondary strikers. They can be build to deal respectable damage while in beast form, and many of their powers grant mobility (for example, see the riders on Darting Bite and Predator's Flurry, which significantly improve your shifting). Mobility can also be achieved via status effects (enemies can't make OA's while dazed or stunned, and blinded, prone, and restrained grant attack penalties). And don't forget that wild shaping back to humanoid form allows you to shift, and to do the same when wild shaping to beast form grab Pouncing Beast Armor, the feat Agile Form, or (in Paragon if you're a Predator) the amazing feat Pouncing Form (shift your DEX mod squares when wild shaping to beast form).   The amount of damage you do will depend on your tactics, feats, and items. Charging and getting combat advantage are great ways to increase your accuracy. With Enraged Boar Form (feat) your charges will be even more accurate, and you'll also get +2 to damage! Ferocious Tiger Form gives you +2 to damage when you have combat advantage (so try to charge into flanking positions!). Primal Fury will give you a +1 to attack when the enemy is bloodied. So in an ideal situation, when charging into a flanking position against a bloodied enemy, you can have a +5 bonus to your attack (+1 charge, +1 enraged boar, +2 for CA, and +1 for Primal Fury) and a +4 bonus to damage (Enraged Boar and Ferocious Tiger)! Provided you have a lot of allies that fight in melee, it's actually not that uncommon to maneuver into such an advantageous situation (powers like Pounce and Swarming Locusts help, and don't forget that many status effects will give you CA). Grab a Horned Helm (for charging) and Claw Gloves (for CA) as soon as possible to boost your damage. Staff of Ruin, Staff of the Serpent, and Iron Armbands of power are also popular damage boosters (SoR and Iron Armbands won't stack, however).Defender – Any Druid can play pseudo-defender for a round or two if an enemy is harassing an ally that's squishier (a ranged leader or another controller). Predator Druids have some good grabbing powers, but they'll generally favor hit and run tactics over off-tanking. Swarm Druids are the real defenders. Grasping Claws is great for providing some stickiness, especially with the Ruthless Killer feat. Your Damage Reduction makes you very tough to kill, and various powers help with this even further. Pick up Bolstered Swarm (feat) as soon as you have room for it in paragon, as it provides a reliable source of THP (by wild shaping). You may also want Toughness and/or Durable. You don't have very many ways to mark, but at level 3 Roar of the Unbowed Beast is a good start. You may also want to consider picking up a defender multiclass feat.Leader – Yep, Druid's can minor in leader too. You can focus on powers that provide forced movement and use them to get your allies out of trouble (this seems to be a feature of both controllers and leaders; warlords and bards are particularly good at it). For paragon paths, Keeper of the Hidden Flame, Guardian of the Living Gate, and Spiral Winds Ally are good choices. Consider multiclassing into Shaman; for the price of 2 feats you can get a 1/encounter Healing Spirits! Otherwise, you don't have many ways of healing. In general, Druids can't function as well as a secondary leader as they can a striker or defender.NOTE: While Druid's are capable of fulfilling any role to an extent, I do NOT recommend actually trying to balance all of them! Pick one secondary role to focus on, and make it fill a hole in your party composition. If you want to multiclass, you'll probably get the most mileage out of a leader class, and focusing on casting (Wildshaping for the occasional Pounce or to pull an enemy off of an ally). [/sblock]Why would a controller want to be in melee? Show[sblock] Admittedly, pure control is most effective at range because you have more choices of enemies to affect, you can more easily affect a different enemy the next round, and you're safer from getting attacked. So what incentive does a Druid have to wade into melee?  Melee combat is dangerous, but the Druid is tough for a controller. Druid's have Leader HP and Healing Surges, so provided they don't neglect AC, they're less squishy than the other controllers and most strikers (the Avenger and the Barbarian being the exceptions). So you're equipped for the job, now what does it offer you?  <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ability to Flank: The resulting Combat Advantage will benefit you as well as your flanking partner. Boom, free debuff by virtue of positioning alone. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Access to charging: Charging is a good deal, since it's a free movement (with restrictions) and a +1 to attack. Yes, another free bonus; this dangerous job is really starting to have some nice perks! The movement's a wash because you need to be adjacent to an enemy to attack in melee, whereas a ranged character can just attack. In other words, needing to be adjacent to attack isn't as much of a penalty now*. And with some feats and items, charging becomes an even more beneficial option. As a bonus, unlike most classes, all of your melee at-wills can be used while charging. So while the fighter has to give up his Tide of Iron if he charges, you still have your ability to control (Savage Rend being the obvious analog here). </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Less Friendly Fire: Some of your beast form powers allow you to make multiple attacks and shift. For example, Predator's Flurry can daze two enemies, provided they are within your DEX mod squares of each other, without risking any friendly fire. Color Spray can potentially hit more enemies, but it will also hit allies. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Lockdown: Pin an enemy against a wall, pillar, sarcophagus, etc. such that even if they shift they're still adjacent to you. This tactic works even better now thanks to the feat Ruthless Killer from Dragon 382, which changes the slow effect of Grasping Claws to immobilized if you stay adjacent to the target. Works great for Lurkers/Skirmishers who had plans to go after someone squishier than you (it may also prevent them from getting bonus damage), and is AMAZING against ranged enemies with really crappy melee attacks. If they want to attack, they're going to get some claws to the face (and they'll either be slowed or slid one square). To replicate this, a ranged controller either A) needs help from an ally (immobilize, daze, or knock prone the ranged enemy, and the adjacent ally can punish them for attacking) or B) needs to use a power that blocks line of sight. Both A and B require powers that offer these effects, none of which are available at-will (though zones/walls that block Line of Sight may be available for the whole encounter). </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ability to make Opportunity Attacks (that don't suck): This has been referenced above, but it merits having a point of its own. Especially since your OAs are better than most; yours can either slide 1 square or slow. </li> </ul>Once again, these are intrinsic benefits to melee combat, irrespective of the many specific powers that Druid's get for melee. Versatility is often overlooked because it's not easily quantified, but in this case the ability to switch back and forth between melee and range (and not gimp your effectiveness by doing so) is a pretty clear benefit. * The biggest penalty for needing to be in melee vs. range involves Grasping Claws. Slow can normally be used at range to prevent a melee enemy from reaching an available target, provided said target is more than 4 squares away. The Druid doesn't normally have this option, since you can't move after a charge. The enemy will be slowed, but you're now a nice target if nobody else is in range. Still useful if you have more HP than whichever allies you're trying to protect, but doesn't waste the enemy's turn.[/sblock]InvokerOverview: Primary Stat: WIS; Secondary Stats: CON, INT Apologies to all of the Invoker players. I have neither played an Invoker, nor seen one in action. This section will likely remain in an impoverished state for quite some time. Pros:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">AoE's often target enemies only, so you're more party friendly </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Most summons can be commanded to attack with a minor action </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">At-wills can be modified with Domain feats </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Access to heavy armor </li> </ul>Cons: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Fairly squishy </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lack of a unifying class feature to enhance versatility or control </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Only 4 summoning powers </li> </ul>WizardOverview: Primary stat: INT; Secondary Stats: WIS, CON, DEX, CHAThe Wizard is currently the most well-supported controller, and thus some may consider it the "best" controller class. Wizards are ranged controllers, and depending on the build they may or may not be squishy (compared to incarnations from previous editions). Their biggest strength is their extremely powerful Daily spells (it's generally agreed that Wizards have the best Dailies of any class). Wizards also specialize in large area spells (bursts and blasts), and these can be made even bigger by taking the Enlarge Spell feat. They can affect a lot of enemies, but need to be very conscious of where their allies are (because most of their spells do not discriminate).  Orb of Imposition (WIS) Wizards focus on single target save-ends effects because of the save penalty that their Implement Mastery gives them. Save penalties can also be stacked on from various other sources (feats and items). Seek out one of the Orbizard threads on the CharOp boards for details on how to make an extremely broken build. Also note that since WIS is your secondary, your Thunderwave will pack a huge punch.  Orb of Deception (CHA) Wizards will almost always be Illusionists (though not all Illusionists need choose this Implement Mastery). Arcane Power is your bible, so make sure you have it. Gnome Illusionists are another very powerful Wizard build, and AP offers a lot of illusion spells. Just watch out for monsters that are immune to illusions or psychic damage. Staff Wizards (CON) are more defensive in nature, and can handle being up close and personal with the enemies (leather prof is recommended if you go this route). This form of Implement Mastery is compatible with almost any Wizard build, so it's here that I will discuss the PHB recommended builds, Control or War Wizard. It's simple, really: don't make a war Wizard. The type of character that you're looking to play would be much more effective if you choose the Sorcerer class. You may now open your PHB2 and turn to page 136. If you're really stubborn about being a blast Wizard, it's doable but you won't be doing your job (controller) very well. Choose a Genasi and drool over Elemental Empowerment (Heroic Tier feat in AP), or choose a Tiefling and focus on fire-based spells. Tome of Binding (CON) Wizards focus on summoning spells. To be a summoner, you will sacrifice most of the other amazing Daily spells that Wizards have access to, but just don't think about it. Your job is now to summon stuff, so don't think you can just cherry pick the "cool" summons and take other Dailies as you please. If you want to do that, then choose a different form of Implement Mastery (Staff works particularly well). Summoning is a form of control, in that you create an ally (flanking buddy!) that can now make OAs. You've decided to focus on restricting enemy movement and manipulating positioning. Take encounter powers that give you some other options so you're not a one trick pony.   Tome of Readiness (NA) can be used with any Wizard build. It gives you some additional flexibility. It's not a terribly popular option, and there's a reason for that. If you want an implement that's compatible with any build (or just want to make a generalist Wizard build), see Staff of Defense. Wand of Accuracy (DEX) Wizards get a bonus to a single attack once per encounter. Make sure you don't waste this on a sub-optimal target or with a sub-optimal spell. This Implement synergizes well with Elves, since they can re-roll at attack once per encounter, making you extremely accurate. It's another rather unpopular choice for a couple of reasons: 1) most wands aren't that great, and 2) your secondary stat (DEX) boosts the same defense as your Primary stat (INT), giving you lower overall defenses (redundant bonuses are wasted). Pros: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Great ability to cover large areas </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Orbs offer best solo lockdown of any controller </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Can master a second implement at paragon </li> </ul>Cons:  <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Can deal a lot of friendly fire damage </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Squishy (Staff Wizards can greatly mitigate, but not eliminate, this) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Relatively few choices for summoning (1/level)[/sblock] </li> </ul>PsionOverview: Primary stat: INT; Secondary stats: CHA, WISPsions control the battlefield simply by thinking it. Here's another class that I have limited experience with.Telepathic Psions (CHA) control the battlefield by mentally assaulting their opponents, rendering them less effective (debuffs), dazed, or even dominated. Pros:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Often targets Will </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Augmentable at-wills provide great flexibility in how you use your powers, and allow for specialization </li> </ul>Cons:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">No summons (currently) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Augmentable at-wills instead of encounter powers results in "one trick pony" syndrome (you give up variety of effects for versatility in how you use a specialized effect) </li> </ul>SeekerOverview: Primary stat: WIS; Secondary stats: DEX, STRSeekers are the first controller to use weapons instead of implements. This gives them a range advantage (bows in particular have a much longer range than most implement powers) as well as an accuracy advantage (they gain their weapon's proficiency bonus, but still usually target NADS). The price that they pay is that they're primarily single-target controllers, and the area attacks that they do have tend to originate from a target hit with an arrow (making placement less flexible). Their Inevitable Shot class feature can turn a projectile into a heat seeking missile; once per encounter when they miss, they can make a RBA against a different target within 5 squares. You're an archer whose arrows are enchanted with the magic of the Primal Spirits, placing you into a similar archetype that the caster Ranger filled in previous editions.Vengeful Seekers (DEX) use bows, whereas the STR based build is speculated to focus on heavy thrown weapons. They're also extremely mobile, as the Bloodbond allows them to shift as a minor action (much like Druids, but without the wild shape requirement). Their Encaging Spirits encounter power (granted by the Bloodbond) lets them push all enemies in a close burst 1 and then slow them. Overall, the bloodbond makes Seekers extremely mobile. Their secondary role is ranged striker.Pros:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Weapon using controllers gain proficiency bonus despite targeting NADs (accurate) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Long range </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Leader HP/surges </li> </ul>Cons:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Few AoE's, and those that exist usually center on a target that's been hit (inflexible placement) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">No summons (currently) </li> </ul></blockquote>

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