Grav Controler/Kinetic concept...

[Star Ranger4]

Ye gods this is addicting. While struggling to decided where I was going with the Inital charecter concept, I had this brain flash while the server was down for maintenance...
[font color=#489AFF]Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401[/font]
[font color=#489AFF]http://www.cohplanner.com/[/font]
[font color=#B1C9F5]Click this DataLink to open the build![/font]
[font color=#489AFF]Groovy Glenda Gravy:[/font][font color=#B3CAF7] Level 48 Technology Controller[/font]
[font color=#489AFF]Primary Power Set: [/font][font color=#B3CAF7]Gravity Control[/font]
[font color=#489AFF]Secondary Power Set: [/font][font color=#B3CAF7]Kinetics[/font]
[font color=#489AFF]Power Pool: [/font][font color=#B3CAF7]Flight[/font]
[font color=#489AFF]Power Pool: [/font][font color=#B3CAF7]Fighting[/font]
[font color=#489AFF]Power Pool: [/font][font color=#B3CAF7]Fitness[/font]
[font color=#489AFF]Power Pool: [/font][font color=#B3CAF7]Medicine[/font]
[font color=#489AFF]Ancillary Pool: [/font][font color=#B3CAF7]Psionic Mastery[/font]
[font color=#489AFF]Hero Profile:[/font]
[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 1:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Crush[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 1:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Transfusion[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 2:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Siphon Power[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 4:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Gravity Distortion[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 6:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Hover[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 8:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Boxing[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 10:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Hurdle[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 12:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Aid Other[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 14:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Crushing Field[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 16:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Repel[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 18:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Siphon Speed[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 20:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Tough[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 22:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Health[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 24:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Aid Self[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 26:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Wormhole[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 28:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Inertial Reduction[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 30:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Resuscitate[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 32:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Singularity[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 35:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Transference[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 38:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Air Superiority[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 41:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Fulcrum Shift[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 44:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Indomitable Will[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 47:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Mind Over Body[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 49:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Propel[/font]

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[font color=#489AFF]------------[/font]
[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 1:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Brawl[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 1:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Sprint[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 2:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Rest[/font]

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[font color=#4FA7FF]Level 1:[/font] [font color=#B3CAF7]Containment[/font]
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

[Ankhani]

I think you put out the wrong code format or something on that export, as it's not quite comming out.

Other tips for the builds here, add in the Corruption Resistant data chunk so we can import it (Datalink is handy, but chunk is easy and reliable) and you
might find it helpful to preview your post before submitting, cause some times the code Mids pumps out with the export doesn't mesh with Yuku.

Also know that you will likely change your goals for character powers and slots and stuff many times as you learn the game and see what you like and don't.
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI

[Acyl]

What Ankh said.
Commenting on the powers...note this is just my opinion, not gospel law or anything. I'm not tellin' ya what to do, just what I think. I'm also making my comments from a gameplay and not a concept point of view. I don't know your RP concept. Fitting your character concept should be the most important thing. All I'm saying here is game system stuff.
While I make recommendations regarding powers in this post, I'm not trying to say that a Grav/Kin MUST take X, Y, Z powers in such-and-such combinations. I'm just saying that these are good powers, and if you don't have them, you should be aware what you're giving up and the ramifications of that choice, so you can adjust your playstyle (and manage the expectations of other players, accordingly).
With that in mind... as a general sort of blanket statement, Gravity/Kinetics is an excellent power combination. It is extremely effective. The downside is that...almost all the Gravity and Kinetics powers are click-activation, not passives or toggles. This means that you need to do a lot of micromanagement and active usage of powers, not 'fire and forget'.
Anyway.
Siphon Speed: You might wanna get Siphon Speed earlier. It's available at Level 10, you've left it to 18. Siphon Speed is really that good, particularly at lower levels. It makes your powers recharge faster, and makes you move faster as well. Which is huge at low levels. That said, it's not a BIG deal to leave it off til Level 18. 's just that many folks take it ASAP.
Fitness Pool and Stamina: You've tapped into the Fitness pool for Hurdle, but you don't have anything else from the pool. Note that the vast majority of CoH builds take Stamina for endurance management reasons. You don't NEED Stamina, but it's the EASIEST solution to end problems. And a Grav/Kin will run tight on endurance, because all your powers are click activation; you've got few passives and toggles. Thus you'll burn end pretty quickly. 
That said, a Kinetics user does get Transference - once you do, your end issues are gone forever. But Transference is only available at level 35. What are you gonna do until then? Of course, if you're willing to tough it out until you do get Transference, that's fine. Just be aware you might be gasping along the way. You can also take Stamina initially and then later respec out of it. But bear in mind, you might lose Transference when you exemp down.
Medicine Pool: This really isn't worth it for a Kinetics user, unless you want the tricorder-esque animation for concept reasons. Transfusion is a superior heal to Aid Self and Aid Other, if you know how to use it. Increase Density is a better mezbreaker than Stimulant (not that you HAVE either, but, y'know). The only thing Medicine does that Kinetics doesn't is rez. But Resuscitate is a lousy rez anyway. It's essentially an out of combat rez, not one that's suitable for use in the middle of a fight. And if you're rezzing other players once the fighting is over, you might as well just let them use an Awaken inspiration. If you wanna be helpful, just carry extra Awakens in your inventory. Resuscitate is NOT worth sinking so many power choices into the Medicine tree.
On that note, if you're taking Medicine Pool because you wanna be helpful and provide support to other players...if that's the reason, well, then it's puzzling that you don't have Increase Density. Breaking other folks out of mez, or pre-emptively keeping mez protection on 'em...is, y'know, kinda important if support's what you're going for.
Fulcrum Shift: If you want this, get it when it's available at Level 38. It's really too awesome a power to leave off even three levels. It's that good. It's one of the two reasons why many players like having Kinetics folks on their team (the other being Speed Boost). It's a massive, massive, damage buff for you and your allies. Like really massive.
Lift and Propel: These powers are why many folks roll Gravity - the powerset's famous for being a controller set that actually has proper ranged attacks. But you've not taken Lift at all, and you've left Propel off until Level 49. Likewise, you haven't taken the ranged attack from your chosen Ancillary Power Pool (Mental Blast). Is this intentional? Are you planning to use Boxing and Air Superiority as your attacks instead? That's a workable choice, but then you've left Air Superiority pretty late in the build...
Gravity Distortion Field: You don't have your wide-area hold. This is a very interesting omission. I mean, the area holds are massive in reach and most controllers consider it a critical part of their arsenal - you can lock down most of a full team's spawn with this. Why don't you have it? Mind...there are downsides to the area hold powers. They have a horrendously long recharge time, so in many cases it's probably just better to spam your single-target hold over and over again. I have seen some pretty damn good controller builds that don't take the area hold. But those builds generally have some other method of wide-area control. Your build doesn't; essentially for a Grav/Kin, Gravity Distortion Field is the only area crowd control available to you. Crushing Field doesn't count as area lockdown because it doesn't prevent enemies from attacking, merely constrains their mobility. That's why GDF is so important. You don't HAVE to take it, but if you leave it out, be aware you're missing a tool most controllers have.
Speed Boost: You haven't taken Speed Boost. SB is one of the best ally buffs in the game, and I'm totally serious when I say...if you're a Kinetics character without Speed Boost, other players might get mildly annoyed with you. 'cause they'd expect you to have it, and if you don't, well...I mean, if you're hanging with us in the Drunkard's Walk crowd, we're cool with it. But if you're teamed with J. Random Players, many of 'em might be =(
I know at least two Kinetics players who don't have Speed Boost, mind you - both of them omitted it because the idea of speeding up allies didn't fit with concept. That's fine because both of 'em play with fellow RPers, who understand that...but even RP players will be puzzled by a Kin that doesn't have SB.
I also know of another Kin player, a non-RPer, who doesn't have Speed Boost because he's annoyed by people who keep asking for it. SB has a very short buff duration, so you need to reapply it very often to folks. And it's easy to miss when it runs out on someone. Folks yelling 'SB PLZ' is, uh, yeah, the bane of a Kin.
I have SB on my Kin, but I made macro buttons to make the buffing process easier. I also really don't mind being reminded by folks when their buffs run out, or being stopped by random players on the street who want a boost.
So, y'know...figure out what ya wanna do with regards to SB, but be warned whichever path you choose. The route of the SBer and non SBer- alike is fraught with annoyance and peril. =)
-- Acyl

[Star Ranger4]

Well the concept here... is just that I found mysef facinated by the grav/kin matchup, in this particular case your advice is very usefull spud since I can
crank numbers all day in the powerbuilder thinging, but that doesnt give me the feedback of how things really WORK in actual gameplay.

I pretty much made my choices blind, based on what I thought felt integrated... she's kind more kinetics than Grav, deliberatly, because i had kinetics ont
he brain and ther really isnt a kinetics controller directly, but you can fake it close with a lot of those grav powers.

oh, and slot recomendations would be welcome too...
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

[Acyl]

I'd make a joke about how Spud's the one with the carbohydrates, while I'm the one with the more complex chemical formulae...but I'm eternally mixing up your avatar with ClassicDrogn's, so 's not like I have room to talk. =D

Yeah, well - if the concept is kinetics control, then it seems like you've got a lot of wiggle room to work with. The real challenge is when the concept imposes tight constraints on what powers you can pick (or not).

I totally get what you're saying about the subjectivity of playing the set, though. You're right, the numbers don't reflect everything. Hmm.

Okay. Just some random thoughts, I guess, from my experience with the set. This is the stuff the stats don't cover. Hope it helps?

Anyway, Grav/Kin is a good combination because it excels both solo and in groups. See, solo gameplay for Controllers basically boils down to locking enemies down with control abilities, and then attacking them until they die.

As you probably know, Controllers have low base damage. They do double damage to held, slept, immobilized, or stunned targets. Which is great, but most Controllers have a woeful lack of proper attacks

That's why it's good to be a Gravity Controller, because you have access to two ranged attacks in Gravity - Lift and Propel.

Kinetics just adds to this, because - well, you have Siphon Power and Fulcrum Shift to boost your damage. Thus you can do quite a lot of nastiness even solo.

What's the down side? Well, you have less in the way of actual control than most other Controllers. Yeah, Gravity has immobilize and hold powers, and your Singularity does control too. But while other controllers have fast recharging soft area controls like big stuns or knockdown patches, you don't. You only have the immobs and holds, and the area immob and hold powers recharge reaaaaaaallly slow. Worth bearing in mind.

That said, Kinetics gives you advantages in mobility and positioning. Siphon Speed is a useful tool; not only is the speed debuff on the enemy quite considerable, it boosts your recharge. And it boosts your mobility. You can basically move at super-speed, and this is BETTER than the travel power super-speed - it doesn't 'suppress' when you attack. Normal travel powers have a couple seconds slowdown after you make an attack. Siphon Speed lets you zip around freely in combat.

That's useful, since a Kineticist needs to duck in and out of range a lot.

Your heal eminates from a targeted enemy, so you may want to dive in and dive out after the heal hits. The endurance recovery power, Transference, is the same. This is also kinda necessary for Fulcrum Shift; Fulcrum Shift does two things. It buffs everything around the targeted enemy, and then it buffs everything around the caster. There's actually two buff zones here. Ideally, therefore, you want to cast Fulcrum Shift while close by to the enemy, yourself.

In team situations, though - you may wish to position yourself instead next to any 'back row' blasters or defenders when Fulcrum Shifting. The enemy-buff will hit the melee players on the team, while the buff that comes from you will hit the ranged guys. But either way, I highlight the examples of the heal, end power, and Fulcrum to demonstrate why positioning's important for a Kineticist.

I don't use Repel much precisely because I don't want to accidentally knock things away from me. Some folks like it as a keep-away power, almost a personal defense - I don't think it's necessary in this role, though. It's best to freeze things in place away from you rather than bouncing 'em back.

Having said that...Repel is interesting for a Grav/Kin. See, most Immobilize and Hold powers root enemy targets in position. Once you do that, they can't be knocked back. BUT - gravity's control powers DO NOT ROOT. Therefore you can lock something down and then bounce it away from you - it will work. Not a tactic I like, but worth considering. Again, it's another positioning tool.

Those are mainly soloing considerations. What about teams? Gravity's a pretty poor team set, but the Kinetics part of the equation makes up for it.

People invite Kinetics users mainly for Speed Boost and Fulcrum Shift, which are good buffs. Increase Density's an underrated contribution, though - consider, though, that it breaks/protects against mezzes, guards against knockback, and...critically...adds resistance to smashing damage. The latter's actually pretty good if you need to slap it on a tank or scrapper who's taking point. Siphon Power can be pretty good as an ally buff as well, particularly on top of Fulcrum Shift.

Transfusion's hard to use effectively due to the fact it uses enemies as the emination point. It is a VERY good AoE heal, maybe the best AoE heal for Controllers in raw numbers. But landing it can be tricky - if a blaster's being hammered but he keeps running away from the bad guys...as most players, y'know, would, then trying to heal him can be a pain. This does take some skill and practice to get used to.

Another note on Transfusion, though...really tough enemies in this game...Archvillains, Giant Monsters, etc, generally have very high health regeneration rates. Kinetics is valued as it is one of the few powersets in the game that does -regen debuff (Transfusion). As a result, spam Transfusion in epic boss encounters. The team will thank you.
-- Acyl

[Acyl]

A word on slotting Grav/Kin:
Note that all Controller primary control powers - the holds, immobs, etc - have higher base accuracy than regular powers. Thus they need less accuracy slotting. Probably still wise to put at least some accuracy in, but you don't need as much as other powers.
Kinetics powers all have regular base acc though, and they're mostly click abilities that can miss. As a result, it's a good idea to keep two accuracy Single Origin enhancements in each Kinetics power...or make up a similar percentage of accuracy through Invention Set enhancements. Do attacks like Lift and Propel the same way.
Recharge slotting is not as necessary for a Kineticist due to the effects of Siphon Speed. It's still good to slot recharge, but if you're tight on slots, you can probably go without. If you want powers to recharge really really quickly, consider picking up Hasten from the super-speed pool. That together with Siphon Speed is quite awesome. Possibly overkill, but awesome.
Don't underestimate the value of slotting endurance cost reduction in most of your powers. The endurance consumption adds up, especially in a frantic battle.
-- Acyl

[Sofaspud]

I will chime in on one point -- as usual, Acyl is dead on in most respects -- and note that Wormhole, which my chemical brother didn't cover, is
woefully underutilized in the Grav controllers I've met.

Properly slotted (and mind, we're only talking about 2-3 slots here), it is a fast-recharging AoE stun. Which is precisely what the doctor ordered, in my
opinion.

Now, the downside to Wormhole is that it requires careful placement and forethought when used on a team, and anything with teleport resist (AVs, for example)
will laugh at you and punch you in the nose. That sucks, but nothing will piss your teammates off more than you sucking all their enemies through a wormhole
and depositing them half a mile away -- you-the-player are likely to get punched in the snoot, then. It's like a trigger-happy Peacebringer or Energy
Blaster sending enemies flying like tenpins; it's just not cool, man.

However.

If you remember to use it sparingly and carefully on teams, Wormhole is an amazing power. I recommend placing the exit point on the ground under the tanker.
It stuns entire groups, and the stun is nothing to sneeze at; lieutenants and even bosses feel it too. While they're stunned, you do extra damage... plus
they're not beating the hell out of your squishy self. Solo, you can place the endpoint wherever you like -- I'll often set it as far away from me as
it will go, and by the time the stun has worn off and they've charged back up to me, it's ready to fire again and -- whoops! -- lookit that,
they're all the way over there again! Stunned!

The whole time, of course, I'm using Lift, Propel, and Crush to beat the hell out of one of them. Rinse lather repeat until the whole group is gone.

I can't comment much on the kinetics side of things. I've rolled and discarded three /Kins at this point, and the fourth is still around simply
because I like watching Terrence Knight twitch (I rolled Terri Knight, his alternate-universe opposite-sex opposite-powerset twin, who thinks her twin is kinda
cute). It's all about playstyle, and I just can't stomach the Kinetics set. I love Kins, everybody does (well... unless you're in the
twisty-cavern maps and they OMFGSpeedBoost! you, but I digress), but they're not for me, I've found.

I

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

[Logan Darklighter]

Wormhole is also very useful when you're trying to solo a map carefully/sneakily.

Say you're on one of those Crey/Tech maps. Come up to a door. Use your camera angle to peek around the corner without exposing yourself. Get a target lock
on the Crey Tanks/Protectors just on the other side.

Step back a few feet. Trigger Wormhole and place the end point right under your faithful Singularity pet.

Not only can they not target you or do ANYTHING because you're not even line of sight until AFTER you've done the stun damage to them, at point blank
range, the Singularity is going to really give them a bad day on top of the holds and crushes you dish out.

Spud also has a point about how it should be used on teams. I'd like to expand on that - I'll be following Terrence along, he'll aggro a nice big
group. But some other party member might mistakenly aggro a completely different group over to the side. Use Wormhole and drag all the enemies into one spot
next to the tank for easier management.

Also - about your Singularity. You can use the initial summon activation in more creative ways then just activating it at the start of a mission. Whenever
Singularity is recharged, you have an opportunity to re-summon it ahead of you. This can be very effective especially on teams. It's like dropping a bomb
sometimes. Of course sometimes the Singularity will choose to do area knockback and scatter the mobs. You should lay down a few holds before you do that in
order to minimize the scatter effect. Your tank will appreciate that.

[Acyl]

I fully admit I completely forgot about the stun component in Wormhole. Or rather, well, I mean, I know it's there, but it doesn't really register on my tactics radar. That's due to the fact I no longer have an active Grav character. I had a Grav/Kin controller, but I rerolled as Kin defender. =P

(Because I'm bad with Controllers. Defendering is more my speed.)

Logan's also right about Singularity. Singy is an interesting Controller pet - it's TOUGH AS NAILS and does amazing control. It's also intangible, insofar as you can walk right through Singy - it has no collision geometry. Which can be useful, since it doesn't block other players. The downside is that Singy doesn't do much damage.
-- Acyl