I mostly played controllers - and my first toon to 50 was a fire/kin. Even before the epic power pools were introduced he was a one man army. But getting to that level was really painful. Getting a blaster to 32 was a breeze compared to doing the same for a controller. Containment has changed that somewhat but it is still harder.
But every time the devs attempt to 'balance' the game they give the impression they're groping around blindly in the dark. The reason fire/kin is so attractive is that particularly level 38+, they have good damage output and the same ability to control as other controllers. What they need to do if they want to balance is not nerf controllers across the board to address perceived problems with one combination of power sets, but look at all those other power sets and improve them.
Look at tanks - fire tanks have better damage output, but suffer a little in their primary tanking role. The same should be true of fire controllers.
My solution would be this:
Give controllers back their controllericiousness. Slash the cooldown on their powers back to the reasonable times they once were.
As a tradeoff, nerf their defender secondaries - they're a crutch propping up controllers' nerfed primaries. Or better yet, change them completely. The combination of controller and defender powers in one toon means controllers are better defenders than defenders. Controllers would be better, and more balanced, with their own unique secondary power sets which wouldn't eg, include fulcrum shift.
If some controller sets have better damage output (eg. fire), give other sets better control.
Personally I always thought the epic power pool sets were a mistake - giving every crying kid ("that other AT can do something I can't - whaaaahh") a lolly to shut them up.
Comments
I mostly played controllers - and my first toon to 50 was a fire/kin. Even before the epic power pools were introduced he was a one man army. But getting to that level was really painful. Getting a blaster to 32 was a breeze compared to doing the same for a controller. Containment has changed that somewhat but it is still harder.
But every time the devs attempt to 'balance' the game they give the impression they're groping around blindly in the dark. The reason fire/kin is so attractive is that particularly level 38+, they have good damage output and the same ability to control as other controllers. What they need to do if they want to balance is not nerf controllers across the board to address perceived problems with one combination of power sets, but look at all those other power sets and improve them.
Look at tanks - fire tanks have better damage output, but suffer a little in their primary tanking role. The same should be true of fire controllers.
My solution would be this:
Personally I always thought the epic power pool sets were a mistake - giving every crying kid ("that other AT can do something I can't - whaaaahh") a lolly to shut them up.