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What makes a controller a controller?
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<blockquote data-quote="mneme" data-source="post: 5259407" data-attributes="member: 59248"><p>There are really two different divisions in play here:</p><p></p><p>1. Ranged characters get to operate from range (thus get greater safety and target selection), but are glass canons (and even when they have great AC, tend to have few hp/surges).</p><p>2. Melee characters operate from close range, and can take hits or avoid getting hit. Melee characters are always going to take more hits than ranged characters--because they're up front and center [barring wierdness like melee charactars that always have stealth; those basically tend to operate like ranged characters]</p><p></p><p>vs</p><p></p><p>1. Controllers prevent the enemy from doing what they want to do, break up enemy tacts, etc.</p><p>2. Strikers make enemies go away, and stop being a problem.</p><p>3. Buffers (leaders) make the party more able to operate as a group to take down enemies</p><p>4. Healers (leaders) bring party members back when they fall down and prevent them from falling down in the first place.</p><p></p><p>There's no such thing as a defender, really--a "defender" is a melee controller -- a melee character (designed to take hits) who controlls the enemy by preventing them from operating optimally--getting controller features more cheaply by limiting some of them to be "attack me" features rather than "attack nobody" or "attack the one I designated". Similarly, the -typical- controller is a glass cannon because they're a ranged build -- and as such, they get to operate at range but can't take many hits.</p><p></p><p>This is, IMO, why druids are so problematic. They're billed as melee controllers -- but they're too fragile to actually operate in a melee role. They get decent enough +striker and +defender features (mostly on items) but not having one of the big pieces of the melee role while having one of their big class features operating only in melee hurts them a lot.</p><p></p><p>This is also why shamans are so solid despite having terrible defenses. They get full leader and good controller features, and can do it all at range--so they're -supposed- to be glass cannons who operate from range and try not to take hits. They've got the odd kicker of wanting good defenses anyway (as their controller features act a bit like defender features), but since even when they're in full "spirit defender" mode they act as if their spirit is insubstantial, they can be really effective.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mneme, post: 5259407, member: 59248"] There are really two different divisions in play here: 1. Ranged characters get to operate from range (thus get greater safety and target selection), but are glass canons (and even when they have great AC, tend to have few hp/surges). 2. Melee characters operate from close range, and can take hits or avoid getting hit. Melee characters are always going to take more hits than ranged characters--because they're up front and center [barring wierdness like melee charactars that always have stealth; those basically tend to operate like ranged characters] vs 1. Controllers prevent the enemy from doing what they want to do, break up enemy tacts, etc. 2. Strikers make enemies go away, and stop being a problem. 3. Buffers (leaders) make the party more able to operate as a group to take down enemies 4. Healers (leaders) bring party members back when they fall down and prevent them from falling down in the first place. There's no such thing as a defender, really--a "defender" is a melee controller -- a melee character (designed to take hits) who controlls the enemy by preventing them from operating optimally--getting controller features more cheaply by limiting some of them to be "attack me" features rather than "attack nobody" or "attack the one I designated". Similarly, the -typical- controller is a glass cannon because they're a ranged build -- and as such, they get to operate at range but can't take many hits. This is, IMO, why druids are so problematic. They're billed as melee controllers -- but they're too fragile to actually operate in a melee role. They get decent enough +striker and +defender features (mostly on items) but not having one of the big pieces of the melee role while having one of their big class features operating only in melee hurts them a lot. This is also why shamans are so solid despite having terrible defenses. They get full leader and good controller features, and can do it all at range--so they're -supposed- to be glass cannons who operate from range and try not to take hits. They've got the odd kicker of wanting good defenses anyway (as their controller features act a bit like defender features), but since even when they're in full "spirit defender" mode they act as if their spirit is insubstantial, they can be really effective. [/QUOTE]
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What makes a controller a controller?
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