Control Skills: What are they?

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Introduction: The Art of Control in Infinity Kingdom

In Norheim or Frostborne, victorious battles are not won, by sheer force alone. Often, the key to victory lies in disrupting your opponent's strategy, and that's where control skills come into play.

In Infinity Kingdom, control skills are found primarily within the Tower of Knowledge (ToK). Where they can be acquired and upgraded using immortal fragments. These skills provide a range of control effects like stuns, silences, roots, and other debuffs that disrupt enemy units, giving your team a strategic advantage in combat. Control skills aren't limited to ToK; many immortals have innate control abilities in their ultimate skills, making them crucial for both PvE and PvP scenarios. Dragons possess skills with control attributes. Which will add another layer of strategy to your march. Skills from ToK, immortals, and Dragons, significantly enhance your team's ability to dominate the battlefield and counter opposing threats. These skills are essential tools in any strategist's arsenal, offering ways to neutralise threats and dictate the flow of combat. What are control skills, and how do they work?

Let's delve into the mechanics of control skills, their various effects, and why they are pivotal in crafting a winning march build.

Stun/Freeze: Bringing the Enemy to a Standstill

Ever wish you could freeze your enemies in their tracks? With stun and freeze effects, that wish is the reality.

Effect: Stun and freeze skills temporarily immobilise enemy units, preventing them from attacking, casting skills, or moving. It will create critical opportunities to take down crucial targets without retaliation.

How They Work on Immortals: Immortals with stun or freeze abilities can halt the enemy's momentum. 

For example: is Merlin's ultimate Skill, Prophecy stuns his targets, making him an ideal choice for early-game control in water-based teams. This effect can disrupt an enemy's battle plan, allowing your march to gain a strategic advantage during the window of immobility.

Pros: Provides a powerful counter against high-damage units, especially those that rely on frequent attacks or skills. 

Cons: Stun effects will be countered by debuff-clearing abilities, and overreliance on stuns can lead to insufficient damage output if not balanced correctly.

Example of how the effect to Stun is used in a Match with the counter measures of Loki Confuse attribute working 100% during 6 attempts.

This is a good example of how Control skills are effective on those Pesky Gnome Bosses. With Richards crowd control of the battle for 16 seconds, it is benefical.

Taunt: Forcing the Enemy's Hand 

Imagine making your opponent's units dance to your tune—taunt effects do just that.

Effect: Taunt compels the enemy to attack a specific target, often diverting damage away from more vulnerable units in your march. It forces enemy units to focus on the taunting unit, which can be particularly disruptive to the enemy's strategy.

How They Work on Immortals: Taunt skills are generally used on tanky immortals, such as Cyrus, who absorb significant damage while keeping enemies' attention away from your damage dealers and support units. This strategic redirection can protect your essential units from enemy focus.

Pros: Protects high-priority units by redirecting damage, and can be used to control enemy targeting behavior.

Cons: The taunting unit must be durable enough to withstand focused fire. Otherwise, it could backfire and lead to a quick loss of an essential member of your march. 

Also, this is a Third tier immortal, with limited potential across other Elemental marches

The main type of gameplay is PvE, given is a short burst immortal with reduced sustainability

Banish (Exile): Removing Threats Temporarily

What if you could make the most dangerous enemies disappear, even if just for a little while? Banish effects do just that. 

Effect: Banish or exile removes a target from the battlefield temporarily. It prevents the immortals or troop units from attacking, or using their skills. This can be a game-changer against powerful enemy immortals who rely on continuous presence to exert pressure.

How They Work on Immortals: Himiko's ultimate skill exiles two back-row immortals with the highest troop power, effectively neutralizing them during critical moments. This tactic is helpful against strong backline damage dealers or healers, giving your team time to dominate the battlefield. 

Pros: Provides a respite from strong enemy abilities, effectively turning the battle into a temporary numbers advantage.

Cons: Banished units will return eventually, meaning it's a temporary solution that requires follow-up strategies to capitalise on the absence.

Silence: Muzzling the Enemy 

On a battlefield, when every spell cast counts, the effect of Silence will be your best friend

Effect: Silence prevents affected unit from using their Ultimate skills, or recover energy. Though they can still perform basic attacks and move around. It will severely limit the effectiveness of units that rely on their abilities for damage or support.

How They Work on Immortals: Silence is potent against skill-dependent immortals, such as those with high burst damage or healing abilities.

An example of When Attila Ultimate Skill with the attribute to Silence, does not cast during the battle.

Pros: Disrupts enemy skill rotations and reduces incoming damage or support from enemy abilities. 

Cons: Silenced units will still have the ability of their normal attacks, so the impact is less pronounced against units that rely on normal attacks. Plus, it only effects 1 random unit, for a limited duration. The use of ToK skills that have the ability to silence have limited impact on Enemy Units that will have counter buffs to neutralise this ability.

Charm/Confusion: Turning Enemies Against Each Other

Have you ever wanted your enemies to fight each other? Charm skills can turn foes into unwitting allies.

Effect: Charm causes an affected unit to attack its allies, creating chaos within the enemy ranks. The repercussions of this control skill are, disruption, removal of the enemy unit's offensive threat and infighting among its unit

How They Work on Immortals: Charm effects are rare and highly valuable for their dual impact on the battlefield. Loki's ultimate, Realm of Lies, charms enemies into attacking their ranks, leading to significant disruption and potential self-damage within the enemy team. The effect of confusion on a battlefield could turn the tide within a fierce match when you are looking to find that edge.

Pros:  It Creates direct and indirect damage to the enemy, and disrupts their formations and targeting priorities. 

Cons: Charm effects are usually temporary and may not affect all enemy units, limiting the overall impact.

Root: Immobilizing the Enemy's Position

Root effects bind enemies to the spot, making them sitting ducks for your assault.

Effect: Root immobilizes units, preventing movement but allowing them to perform attacks or use skills. This control can limit enemy positioning and force them into unfavourable engagements.

How They Work on Immortals: Root is useful for controlling enemy positioning, especially when dealing with mobile threats or units that rely on repositioning to maximise effectiveness.

Pros: Limits enemy mobility and can keep key targets locked in unfavourable positions. 

Cons: It does not prevent skill usage or attacks, so the enemy can still be dangerous even when rooted.

Avoiding Overload: The Right Balance of Control Skills 

More isn't always better—here's why restraint is as significant as power.

While control skills are powerful, overloading a march with them can be counterproductive. Since control effects have cooldowns and durations, stacking too many can result in wasted effects—where one control skill's duration overlaps with another's, or they are applied when no further disruption is needed. It is essential to balance control skills with other abilities. Such as healing or damage, to maintain a well-rounded and effective strategy. 

Conclusion: Pros and Cons of Control Skills in a March Build 

Control skills offer a strategic edge by limiting the enemy's ability to respond, creating windows of opportunity for your team to secure victories. The pros include the ability to disrupt enemy strategies, protect targeted units, and turn the tide of battle in your favour through well-timed control effects. However, the cons involve potential over-reliance on control. Potentially, leading to weaknesses in other areas, for example, damage or healing. These are affected by the existence of counter strategies or skills that will debuff or cleanse these effects.

For the effectiveness of control skills, it's crucial to strike a balance within your march, ensuring that you are not sacrificing critical components like damage output or survivability. It is beneficial to layer control effects thoughtfully. To integrate in a way that complements your overall strategy. The aim is synergy. By doing so, you can create a versatile and resilient team capable of adapting to a wide range of combat scenarios, turning control skills into one of your most formidable weapons on the battlefield.

On a final note of cautionary tale, these control skills are contrary and will not always show up when you need them. Maybe they did not have their Wheatbix that morning lol...!!

I do hope you found the article a good starting point to understanding the premise of what are control skills. Thank you for taking the time to read and please leave your comments. Have a good weekend:))

SOURCE:

1. GRAMMARLY

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