Gearsmith

Welcome back. I think of your earlier guide every time I pull out my TA/A, and I was wondering if the I-11 changes would result in another Magnum Opus.

Thanks for the informative and enjoyable read. Here's to pointy sticks (that occasionally go "boom" or "acid!" or "zap!").

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He *is* adorable. Even if there were enough arrows in the world to fight a giant baby (which clearly there aren't) I don't think I could fire on him...too cute!

-->M

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Wait wait wait...

You spend billions of dollars to invent an Enema Arrow, and yet you can't spend Five Bucks and some spare change to buy a rattle and tie it to a shaft?

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I've been looking for a new arrow maker Liquid, hows your inventing?

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I can sell you a few Ancient Bones and Crystal Skull to tie to that arrow. Creepy, but rattle-y!

BAB's post remains one of the best proofs of why this community is so much darn fun. Devs who love and play the game as much as we do..... it's a good thing.

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Now run. Statesman wants you dead.

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I don't see any Statesman around here. Looks like Manticore got the last laugh after all!

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Teleport Arrow for the win!

Also, welcome back, Manticore. Limited involvement or not, it's nice to have you here again.

Knowing War Witch is continuing to shepherd the game through, as one of our continued fearless devs, is a good feeling. I hope the "many" folks from Cryptic continuing on with NCSoft includes all the other awesome people we know and post about. (Or at.)

Yay for COV! Happy Birthday, Lord Rec-

*urk*

(dies)

LORD RECLUSE: FOOL! The master of the Isles does not accepted "Belated" Birthdays!

Hells, nice work. Always good to see TA get some attention. My TA/A is 33, and chugging along - a lot of fun, and quite effective. Hoorah for sharp, pointy sticks.

I'd be curious to see you update this one for 1-10 and 1-11.

I'll try to add something this week. I've been neglecting my Dom for that overpowered flavor-of-the-month build, Trick Arrows/Archery.

(Blue side! Get if off me, get if off!)

[u]Guide to Gaming in Limited Times[u]

The Introduction

My own recent experiences – dealing with a hectic job, spending time with family and keeping the house form being condemned as a hazardous laundry area – had me thinking lately about ways to enjoy COH without having to plunk down 3 or 4 hours at a stretch. Those lazy Sunday afternoons when there’s nothing to get in the way of the next level or three, or when your SG is on, and it’s time to trek through a TF, are great – but what do you do when you’ve got an hour while your Significant Other watches Desperate Housewives* ?

(* or American Chopper. Pick one.)

Here’s some thoughts:

1. Set a goal for your session

It’s good to have the feeling, when you’re looking at the log-out screen, that you managed to build your character in some way. This can be obvious: you hit 12 and bought DOs, or finally got your 18, 26, 32, etc power. Or maybe you got to another level of slots, or finally reached Stamina. But as the game goes along, and when you’re faced with a time crunch, find things to motivate yourself.

Some ideas might be: get your next costume slot, or aura access; decide on a badge you want to work on (or just get via exploration); clear that lingering mission; start a story arc; lead a good steam-rolling radio-missions group; try an alternative tactic with your powers and see if it helps; and so on.

If you’re short on time, you get more out of it if you can think: “Gee, I didn’t get to 43 today, but I did make a cool costume, and I did make some cash at the AH.”

(Of course, see 5 and 6, below.)

2. Have something to work towards, longer-term

This idea follows naturally from the above – maybe what you see as the accomplishment of each quick session is a small step toward something big. This could be the working at something insane, like the Indestructible Badge, or figuring that earning a bubble of XP per sit-down is your step-by-step way to get to The Next Cool Power.

Maybe it’s something as simple as “earn cash to get the recipe to make Rain of Arrows even better.”

3. Plan what you want to do, beforehand

Why waste gaming time figuring out who your’e going to play, or what you might do? If you have an hour to be online and save the world, can you really let that time go to waste? If you know ahead of time what your “plan” is for the night, you’re good to go that much faster.

Plus, like yours truly, you likely have a workday (or school day?). It’s a nice diversion in those long meetings to figure out which story arc you’re hitting next, or to decide on whether you want to find a PUG with your blaster, or run a lowbie-mission or three with those SG mates who rolled new alts.

4. Stick to a character

Spreading small amounts of time over a bunch of alts can leave you feeling like your’e treading water. Sure, the playing is always fun – but it’s nice to see your characters gain in power, experience and badges. As you get higher, a lot of more interesting and newer content is available as well – if only because you’ve already seen the Hollows eighteen-million times, so anything else has to be more engaging.

Following from 1 and 2, staying with one character or even two lets you see real progress, and can counteract the annoyance of not having a full day to spend 5 hours a piece on each of your 30 alts. (Yes, the math is wrong. But it feels that way!)

5. Avoid WW and the Black Market

This may sound like heresy, but deciding not to hit the Auction House can make a big impact on your enjoyment when time is short. I find that the consignment house system is a great addition to the game – it’s a good money sink as you rise in levels, a nice source of funding for low alts, and there’s good customization options for your characters. If you know that you’re going to just drop things there to be stored, that’s one thing. But it’s far too easy to get sucked in, whether it’s researching how to price your weird, rare recipe or salvage, or checking to see if you can get that one invention you were looking for. Getting the most out of the AH takes time – consider how you’ll feel if you just spent half your playtime and only have a “well, I didn’t buy anything” to show for it.

Think about setting aside a busy night, or a specific gaming session some time in the week, to game the AH, post your stuff for sale and do the longer, more complex tasks.

6. Be realistic about tweaking your costumes

This is really a subset of 1 and 3, but I had a recent night where I logged on thinking that I’d just dash off a quick Tech-themed costume for one of my characters to use in the Rikti War Zone. Fast forward to an hour later…. And I’m still not satisfied.

If you’re reading this and scratching your head over how anyone can spend an hour on the costume editor – move along, move along. For you, O other readers, and for me: when you’re going to do a new costume, set aside some time and don’t plan on much else.

Conclusions

I hope this interesting; if not, pass on by – if you have your own tips, share!

Best,

Gears
10-17-07

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I am an absolute newbie in this game. I only took the time to download 1.8 G yesterday, and managed to create a hero and enter.
I could not find the way to exit the game. If you have time to answer, I will check it when I get home before I start to play.
So far it seems like it will be fun. Let you know later. Thanks

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Solrak, type /quit, or use the Menu bar, then select quit.

Just to stick in an oar, you see mobs "fleeing" from slow effects in general, don't you? Like caltrops, tar patch, quicksand, hot feet - or sometimes even after Shiver. Now, I know some of the above are supposed to have built-in fear effects additionally, but I wonder if some of the "flee" animations are the result of poor AI movement decisions, which get drawn out due to the -run of the powers.

That's how I always interperated AA's "flee" effects - as a reaction to the Slow. If that were the case, testing would be even more problematic.

Thanks, Min Min - really appreciate the feedback. I'll have some re-editing to do, it seems. I've faced fewer Nemesis villainside than on heroes, so it looks like I've been working on imperfect information.... interesting.

Thanks again for the comments, and thanks for reading this!

A new Plant/Ice Guide in the Player Guides section:

Winterseed's Guide to Plant/Ice Dominators

last free spot, likely for notes on IOs

Travel Powers and You: Commuting, Rogue Isles Style.

With the implementation of Mayhem Mission rewards, villains had a nice set of options available only to themselves – temporary travel powers. Heroes, sadly, now have access as well, but in any case… The conventional wisdom of “pre-req before 14, travel power at 14” doesn’t have to hold true. It is perfectly possible, if one is diligent, to make the Atlas Park Raptor Pack (1.5 hours use) and the Kings Row Jump Pack (ditto) last from 5-22. So, if you want to push things back a bit to have more punch earlier, or to fit slots into the right powers, you DO have the option. I strongly advise taking a travel power by 24, however, because at this point it just gets annoying to keep thinking about conserving your temporary powers.

A few notes on getting there and back again: others have said plenty about specific powers, so we’ll make this brief.

<ul type="square">[*]Flight is slow, and safe. Easy to use, very good for the Isles’ geography, and lets you cross long, dangerous zones while going to the fridge. But it’s definitely the slowest option from point A to point B.[*]SuperJump is very popular, and rightly so: it’s fast, pretty safe and has two great powers associated (Combat Jumping, to resist Immobilizes, and Acrobatics, to resist KB/KD and Holds – if only one Hold, really). However, you don’t get to really go AFK while going place to place.[*]Teleport and Superspeed are both not recommended; slower video cards have trouble with ‘porting, and while it’s fast, it’s hard to use and unforgiving. SS is tough in the Isles without some vertical movement (SJ, Flight, Jetpacks, Good-Vs-Evil Reward JumpPack). The Isles are cluttered, with lots of broken ground and alleys, making SS difficult.[/list]
Recommended Power Pools

<ul type="square">[*]Stealth: allows for closer work with Seeds, and gives less paranoia when, solo, you see the Dreaded Corner that may hide Night Widows galore.[*]Medicine: Aid Self. You can add to your survivability here with Aid Self, which combined with Power Boost, gives you about 3/4 of your HP back. It’s useful solo and teamed; and both the pre-reqs (Aid Other or Stimulant) are useful on a team, here and there.[*]Fitness. Yes, it’s still true.[/list]
Sample Build: Professor Winterseed (35)
*This takes advantage of travel powers from the Mayhem Mission rewards. Slotting is tight; I always tried to at least slot some minimum into each power in time for Dos/SOs (e.g. adding a slot for an EndRed to Ice Bolt, in addition to the Acc for the default slot, by 12). It has not always been an easy ride!

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+ Built with SuckerPunch's Online Planner
+ http://www.cohplanner.com
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Name: N/A
Level: 38
Archetype: Dominator
Primary: Plant Control
Secondary: Icy Assault
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01 =&gt; Ice Bolt ==&gt; Acc(1),Dam(19),Dam(21),Dam(21),EndCost(29),Rech(33)
01 =&gt; Strangler ==&gt; Acc(1),Hold(3),Hold(3),Rech(5),Rech(5)
02 =&gt; Ice Sword ==&gt; Acc(2),Dam(7),Dam(7),Dam(9)
04 =&gt; Ice Sword Circle ==&gt; Acc(4),Dam(17),Dam(17),Dam(19)
06 =&gt; Swift ==&gt; RunSpd(6)
08 =&gt; Seeds of Confusion ==&gt; Acc(8),Acc(9),Confuse(11),Confuse(11),Rech(13),Rech(33)
10 =&gt; Ice Blast ==&gt; Acc(10),Dam(13),Dam(15),Dam(15),Rech(33)
12 =&gt; Hover ==&gt; Flight(12)
14 =&gt; Health ==&gt; Heal(14)
16 =&gt; Power Boost ==&gt; Rech(16),Rech(25),Rech(31)
18 =&gt; Vines ==&gt; Acc(18),Acc(25),Rech(31),Rech(31)
20 =&gt; Stamina ==&gt; EndMod(20),EndMod(23),EndMod(23)
22 =&gt; Aid Other ==&gt; Heal(22)
24 =&gt; Aid Self ==&gt; Heal(24)
26 =&gt; Carrion Creepers ==&gt; Acc(26),Acc(27),Rech(27),Rech(29)
28 =&gt; Fly ==&gt; Flight(28)
30 =&gt; Stealth ==&gt; Rech(30)
32 =&gt; Fly Trap ==&gt; Acc(32)
35 =&gt; Greater Ice Sword ==&gt; Acc(35)
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01 =&gt; Sprint ==&gt; Empty(1)
01 =&gt; Brawl ==&gt; Empty(1)
02 =&gt; Rest ==&gt; Empty(1)

Secondary: That Cold, Cold Heart of Yours (Please Stop The Hitting)
Ice offers a mix of ranged and melee attacks, with its AOE potential spread out over both – as with most Dominator secondaries. You have a choice to focus on melee, ranged or a combination of the two – while it’s not an immediate make or break decision, have a plan about which strategy feels right for you, and for how you view your character. It won’t be until the late 30s, when you unlock Ice’s third melee or third single-target blast (Greater Ice Sword and Bitter Ice Blast, 35 and 38), that you’re able to make a really good attack chain for either pure melee or pure ranged. I’ve had the best mileage mixing the two, but there’s no reason you have to: pure ranged is safer, and pure melee is faster but brings more debt.

<ul type="square">[*]Ice Bolt[/list]Initial, and no-choice power; moderate (low) damage, with a reasonable recharge and the –speed/-recharge that defines the set. As with all Dominator attacks, you’ll find that the damage-to-endurance ratio is not ideal.

Unlike, say, Flares from the /Fire set, Ice Bolt is useful and there’s a good chance you’ll be using it as part of your attack chain for a long time, if not until 50. If you prefer to be ranged and shun melee, this is the power besides Strangler that you’re likely to use the most. It’s also possible in much later levels to drop slots from this power and to focus on Ice Blast, Frost Breath and Bitter Ice Blast, to develop a more effective attack chain.

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Side Notes on Slotting Your Secondary
For single-target attacks, I strongly suggest 1 ACC, 3 DAM, 1 Rech --- and then one EndRed. Even with a three-slotted SO’d Stamina, you’re going to be needing the help with that blue bar. Adding a second Recharge will only drain you faster. Adding a second ACC is worth thinking about, if you’re always facing high-cons, but you’re better off dropping the Recharge than the EndRed, if you go that path. (For one thing: if they’re higher level, you’ll need *even more* uses of a power to kill it, which adds to Endurance issues….)

For AOE attacks: 2 ACC, 3 DAM. If you have space in your build, sure, drop in a Rech or an EndRed. Why 2 ACC? As with Seeds, you’re rolling the dice on more targets, so get the best chance you can to hit all of them. Above, I’ve just noted the inportance of EndRed, so why am I not demanding a slot for it here? Because you won’t be using your AOEs more than once a fight, generally: EndRed nets you less gain here, even if your AOEs do take more End per use. Equally, you can get by with or without a Recharge SO. Do which you want, or neither: this is more “your way, my way” than “agree now or respec later.”

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<ul type="square">[*] Ice Sword [/list]Here’s what I would have said, a month ago:

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This power poses something of a conundrum. I’ve taken and respecced out of this one twice, and I’m not sold either way. It’s nice to have an additional single-target option – breaking down vault doors and trying to whittle down that held LT solo both spring to mind as immediate examples. On the downside, where other sets have a strong melee attack in the second spot, Ice Sword seems to lacks punch while recharging somewhat slowly. I also have reservations about taking a power that’s most useful only solo: rushing into melee range in a team means taking on dangerous-con enemies, and should be done for a good reason, with a fast entry and exit. I’ve never felt Ice Sword’s damage outweighs the extra delay within reach of fangs, claws and all that.

Perhaps the best argument for this power is that if you don’t take it, you have to choose Roots or Entangle which are both losers, really. Ouch.

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After some more checking into the power, I have to change my tune. If you lack a good melee punch that recharges regularly, you’re cutting down on your damage; Ice Sword is a power I now use most often after the target is Held, to stand and slice. It’s worth it and worth the slots. On teams, though, I find myself sticking to ranged and occasionally Ice Sword Circles, as below, when the mobs are contained.

<ul type="square">[*] Ice Sword Circle [/list]In an earlier issue, Circle was essentially a “kill me now” power, because that’s how you felt waiting for the animation to end, and because that’s what it did. Fortunately, the activation is much briefer now, without the pause and inability to use powers for a second or two post-use, making Circle worth considering.

The damage here is comparable to that of Ice Blast and is PBAOE (point blank or player based, take your pick); it has a relatively short range and a slow recharge, meaning that you’ll need to be surrounded to make the most use of it, and you’ll want to make sure your positioning is good since you won’t get a second swing for a while.

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Daisy Sez: Why take a PBAOE? Because Seeds of Confusion makes it worthwhile. Your enemies will tend to clump up as they turn on each other, grouping nicely. Also, delivering damage to as many targets as possible makes sure that you get the greatest experience reward you can for the defeat of each foe finished off by his Confused allies. Plus, it looks nifty.

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Recommended if you’re okay with dipping into melee: it’s a fast-activating damage spike that can really help move things along.. Remember, though, as with ANY AOE power, don’t lead off with it, don’t use it if you’re going to get creamed in return, and don’t lead off with it.

<ul type="square">[*]Ice Blast[/list]Your new best friend: more bite than its smaller level-one cousin, with a longer recharge and a higher endurance cost. Its –speed effect combines nicely with that of Ice Bolt, and is quite noticeable. I found that in earlier levels, primarily in solo situations, the doubled -Runspeed will let you toss a Strangler at one enemy and slow the advance of another long enough for your Hold to recharge.

A good solid attack, and nothing ill to say about it, save for the usual caveat that you’ll always wish that your AT had a bit more punch for the effort.

<ul type="square">[*] Power Boost [/list]Your gem, prize and joy. Power Boost has an approximately 7-second duration (which is less uses per activation than you’d think, but more than the usually-planned-for one-shot) and recharges in 90 seconds.

While Domination will boost the magnitude and duration of your abilities (and your damge), Power Boost will only boost the duration and the magnitude of the secondary effect, if any. For you, this means that your Ice attacks will slow the movement speed and recharge of your targets a good deal more (as noted above, an increase in effectiveness of 100% + 1% per level); your Holds and Confuses, plus Immobilizes will also last longer.

The immediate and obvious use, as above, is with Vines. However, Boost can make Seeds of Confusion’s duration impressively long in the pre-SO levels – and frankly disgusting later on, if you just want to sit a fight out and make popcorn.

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Magnitude: Why That Hero PWNd j00.

Daisy Sez: Okay, the Professor is alwys talking about effects and magnitude and whatnot, so let’s do a fast recap. Magnitude defines what rank (Minion, LT, Boss) of enemy your Hold or Sleep or Immobilize or Disorient affects. [p]

Mag 1 is minion-only (Dark Pit is a Mag-1 Disorient, for example); Mag 2 is your average Hold (Strangler, Char, Block of Ice are all examples; Beanbag is a Mag-2 Disorient); Mag 4 is Boss-level (Total Focus is a Mag-4 Disorient). Magnitudes stack against an enemy, so you throw two Holds at a boss, he’s done; likewise, two Dark/Dark Defenders (what are the chances?) toss a Dark Pit at a LT and he’s doing the unsteady shuffle alongside his lackeys. But it would take four Dark/Dark Defenders (the entire population of some servers) to stagger a Boss.

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Daisy Sez More: So, Power Boost doesn’t touch the Magnitude of a power, just its duration and the effectiveness of any random other debuffs/buffs on the ability. That Hold is still Mag-2 when Power Boosted, but it lasts longer and if it has, for example, a Defence Debuff – why, that Debuff is also twice as strong (e.g., taking off 10% instead of 5%). Things buffed under Power Boost include –SPD, -RECH, -ACC, End Drain, Knockback – plus Defense Buffs and ToHit Buffs, but never –DAM or +DAM.

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Daisy Finishes: So, PowerBoost plus Forcefields is very nice, and the +ACC of Aim or Build Up is boosted too, but you can’t increase the -RES from Sonic Siphon or the +RES from, say, Temporary Invulnerability or the RES (Toxic) from something like Dull Pain. From everything I’ve seen (and hey, we plants get around), offensive toggles such as Radiation Infection or Darkest Night are not affected by Power Boost. There are plenty of weird interactions and odd exceptions, but you won’t have to know about them 99% of the time.

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<ul type="square">[*]Frost Breath[/list]Cone AOE cold damage in two hits over about 2 full seconds (from animation to last tick of damage). You can catch a good number of targets in this cone, but placement is key; it’s fairly narrow and only moderately long.

If you have ISC, this makes a good addition to your AOEs post-AOE Hold/Confuse. If you lack ISc, you should take this to speed up your Exp/Kill progress; you will want at least one AOE, with Plant/. Frost Breath is pretty useful, even if it’s not enough damage or area to be an “I win” button.

<ul type="square">[*]Chilling Embrace[/list]PBAOE slow movement / -recharge aura. No. Just no. It combo’s badly with Seeds (the enemies will fight each other more slowly, making you do more of the work); it aggro’s any non-controlled-target you dip into melee reach of; it won’t stop a target from running up and smiting you. When did you last see a non-Tank with CE? And did you think it was a good idea, for him?

<ul type="square">[*]Greater Ice Sword [/list]Crunch. It’s big, it’s damaging, and it takes longer than you’d like to recharge: if you feel up for some melee vengeance, go for it. Single-foe-lethal/cold carnage. The bad news is that for all that it’s a “Greater” sword, it only does 20% more than the normal version, for a larger End and Recharge. Additionally, the bonus damage is Lethal, not Cold, which is heavily resisted.

If you want another melee option, it’s not bad at all, but it doesn’t quite live up to its name, so be warned. You’ll also need to devote enough slots to this to make it worth your time, so be sure you have enough slotting free to invest in this, if you take it.

<ul type="square">[*]Bitter Ice Blast [/list]Big single-target zap. Not as strong as the Blaster version, and it’ll be a while before you can fully enjoy, since you need slots to put in; as a 38 power, it would be nice if you got something good “out of the box.” Still, this is a great addition to your arsenal. No complaints here.

Primary: Don’t Feed the Plants (They’ll Feed Themselves)

It’s customary to break down the powers one by one, and reading someone else’s opinions is sometimes half the fun. Without further ado….

<ul type="square">[*]Strangler[/list]Take it as your first power; this is the mainstay of your primary, the basic hold. As a Plant Dominator, you’re indulged by this power. The graphics are a treat and make it easy to see what is and is not safely locked down (as opposed to Mind or Gravity Control, for example). Even more important, Strangler has a nice bonus to accuracy. While I’ve seen it listed as both 1.1 and 1.2 (vs. the normal 1.0), I can testify that one ACC SO is sufficient to handle red-con LTs and minions reliably.

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Accuracy And You: Or, How *Did* You Miss That Gigantic Robot?
As a fast side note, to find the effective accuracy of a power, take the “1.x” and multiple by 75% for an even-con enemy; moving up the scale, that 75% decreases to 70% (yellow-con), 65%-ish (orange-con) and then fades in larger increments. So, “1.2” for Strangler means 75% + 15% for an even-con (90%), and so on.

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Daisy Sez: Like most plants, they need ground to grow on, so don’t expect them to take care of fliers too far off the ground. They won’t pluck anyone out of the air alone.

Also, Strangler Vines are stringy. Sometimes they get stuck in my teeth when I take bites out of whatever the Professor is Holding. That’s why I stay out of melee range. And they hog the fertilizer, too.

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Thank for that insightful comment, Daisy. And we’ll be taking more about your habits later.

<ul type="square">[*]Entangle[/list]A single-target immobilize with a minimal DoT: you’re not going to get a lot of mileage out of this one. Early on (pre-12), sometimes keeping an enemy out of melee range is useful enough to justify using this power. It has a fairly quick activation and may have some form of accuracy bonus, since it hits reliably – but let’s face it, immobilize is never going to have its poster above someone’s bed.

Now, unlike Strangler, Entangle has a –Fly component. Hooray? Well, not so much. Unlike Chillblain or Ring of Fire, you don’t get to drop that Longbow Eagle out of the sky because if the target is too high off the ground, the power has no effect. –Fly? Go figure.

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Daisy Sez: Entangle is a great way to build Containment and one of –

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Wrong guide, Daze, wrong guide. Moving on.

<ul type="square">[*]Roots[/list]Entagle’s AOE brother. Now, here’s one of those times when a power’s usefulessness is subject to your style. Roots is never, never going to be a good way to “open” a fight, but it has a possible place with Seeds of Confusion. (See below). It’s a possible way to keep Confused enemies clustered together, hitting each other, rather than running around.

On the down side, it’s an endurance hog and an amazing aggro magnet, and negates the KnockDown of Creepers (see below-er). This is best seen as a power to make you “win more” when everything is already great. It’s always made more sense to me to go for a power that can save your poor skull from being used as an ashtray, rather than adding extra shine to a victory.

Roots also has a hefty ACC penalty (80% modifier): You’ll need two SOs to hit a group reliably: expect to miss one or two anyway.

<ul type="square">[*]Spore Cloud[/list]
An AOE sleep with a slightly-too-long animation and a short range (think “Web Grenade meets Alkaloid” for the gesture, with the range of, say, Flash Freeze or Beanbag). If you’re using this, they’re already shooting because you’re fairly close. Also, enemies will aggro on the wind-up, before you throw your little ball of soporofic spores, making this a chancy means of control.

Adding to the negative column, the graphics for the effect are not very visible, and the duration vs recharge is too-short-meets-too-long. Plus, it’s a sleep. Easily broken in a pickup group, or by Mastermind pets in general. If you have room in your build, it’s a reasonable emergency power; and if you have a regular partner or two in your villainy, you may see good results after you agree on tactics. Still, chances are you have something else do pick.

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Daisy Sez: What are you a Professor of, anyway? Besides, you always try to Sleep the enemies I’m throwing thorns at.

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You want to be written out of this guide? No? Hmm? Good.

<ul type="square">[*]Seeds of Confusion[/list]
The jewel of the set, but not the only jewel. Seeds is going to be a staple of your life, from 8-50, just don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s the only thing Plants has to offer. An AOE cone Confuse, capable of hitting 10 targets within its range (as opposed to 16 for Mass Confusion), Seeds causes aggro from enemies you miss, and from the enemies that eventually shake off your dosage of hallucinogens.

Seeds has a long and very wide cone; experiment for yourself to get a feel for the range. Even in the late thirties, I’m still pleasantly surprised at how many enemies I can Confuse with a blind toss when things go south; unlike the cone of FrostBreath and such, it’s more of a giant, long arc.

Seeds, unlike most AOE powers, has no accuracy penalty and has a rather nice duration/recharge. You will almost never need to use Power Boost (see below) with Seeds, even on high-con enemies: yes, it’s that good.

As a soloist, Seeds will be key to pumping out the damage you’re looking for, in combination with your AOE and some single-target attacks. I’d like to address build-ideas later, but in essence, Confuse both keeps the damage off of you while letting the enemies whittle each other down, in addition to grouping them nicely into a clump … perfect test-subjects for that Ice Sword Circle and Frost Breath combo you’re always refining.

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Experience and Experiencing Its Lack
Most people in COV are glad for the soft-control aspect and the decrease of fire coming their way, so the “less exp” issue doesn’t often raise its head. Summing it all up, your experience for defeating a foe is based on the damage you do to the target. Confused mobs damaging your target detracts from your overall reward, since you and your team didn’t do 100% of the damage: ergo some gripes on rare occasions. The trick is 1) you mow through spawns more quickly with Confuse effects, resulting in more experience over time, if slightly less for any single encounter, and 2) any damage a Confused enemy does is counted at a significant reduction when experience is doled out (e.g., 50% damage done, and 50% by a confused pet, still nets you over 80% of the total experience reward). ...In short? Don’t worry about it. Even solo, you’ll do just fine.

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As a team player, Seeds is one possible “opening move” against a large spawn, though risky in the later levels, or against high-con enemies (there’s nothing like catching a volley of werewolf-thrown rocks to make you want the Brute to go first). A compromise is to let any melee types start their charge and open with Seeds as the spawn starts to see them. Equally, and this applies to solo tactics, though with more caveats, Stealth is a useful investment go get a little closer and slap leather.

Despite Seeds’ lack of an ACC penalty, you’ll likely want 2 ACC SOs in this power because 1) you’ll be using it on a large number of enemies at once, which means rolling the dice for each target and you need to keep the odds firmly on your side, and 2) when you use it, you really don’t want to miss. Slotting is open to your preference: some prefer one ACC SO, some drop one Confuse Duration in, others go for two; likewise for recharge. I find that 2 Acc, 2 Duration and 2 Recharge makes me happiest.

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*Warning: Not a Remedy for All Situations. Know your Hero Infestation!
Throughout COV, there are enemies resistant to Confuse, either with inherent abilities that shorten its duration, or requiring two doses to succumb to its effects. These enemies are almost always Lieutenants, such as Anathema or Fortunatas (two applications); Longbow Nullifiers (shorter duration), or Wardens (who reduce the duration on the troops around them, thanks to inherent Leadership powers, curses be upon them). It’s also surprisingly hard to confuse Rikti Drones (insane defense) and Nemesis Army soldiers, as the latter activate Vengeance on the death of a comrade, which is a pain in the flora. Learn which foes you’ll need to take additional measures with.

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<ul type="square">[*]Spirit Tree[/list]Triage Beacon for the Plant set. Nothing wrong with it at all; just a rather long recharge, and you’ll likely need the slots you could put in this for one of your more offensive powers – or perhaps there’s another power you want more.

I see this primarily as a team power for long fights. Plant a tree near the Brute’s clump of baddies, or in the middle of the Mastermind’s forces. +Regen is always welcome; just don’t expect it to let you tank.

It’s a good feeling to contribute to a group with this, but recognize that it won’t turn a bunch of red health bars green suddenly and that fights are often mobile affairs that can ebb and flow out of range of your cheerful sapling’s effects.

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Daisy Sez: Great with the Treehugger Badge!

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<ul type="square">[*]Vines[/list]Your AOE Hold. Terrible duration, accuracy penalty, long, long recharge. Expect to use this power once a mission, or twice if the task is a very long one. Unlike many other AOE Holds, Vines does no damage at all.

[ QUOTE ]
Daisy Sez: There are some who write off the power as “don’t bother;” Controllers see more effectiveness from their AOE Holds after all, and if you peruse the forums, you’ll see that there’s already a lot of discontent from their corner about their (superior to your) duration and recharge for these powers. ….Yes, I lurk on the forums. On the Internet, no one knows you’re a maneating scientific monstrosity! Sweet, sweet Match.com…

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I’d like to state for the record that I know nothing about those “Student Vanishes After Blind Date” headlines. I like to give Daisy her privacy.

Vines is best seen as a panic button or end-of-mission switchblade. It’s good for stacking magnitude of Holds on a boss or set of bosses in a tough group, but it’s a rare occasion that you’re going to use it. If you have your heart set on something else, that’s fine: just remember one thing…. With your Ice Secondary, you can make Vines the Ace up your sleeve.

Power Boost (see below, again) lets you add to the duration of the Hold Effect, starting at +100% with an additional 1% per level of your Dominator. This turns Vines into something rather worthwhile – if you stack this with Domination (and heck, you should), then Vines can last an entire battle.

The slotting I’d recommend is 2 ACC and 2 Recharge. This way, you’re overcoming the accuracy penalty (standard -20%) and it’s definitely up for use once each mission, even if you’re blowing through paper jobs. Honestly, though, and I never thought I’d say this about any power, you could consider a third accuracy SO… because if you’re using Vines, you’re almost certain to be facing high-con enemies, and you need it to hit as many as possible while overcoming that built-in accuracy penalty. It feels insane, but it’s been a nagging desire since level 18.

Note that I don’t suggest putting in an Hold Duration SOs. Power Boost will take care of that for you, and you can use that two or three slots better somewhere else. Equally, the recharge is just so long that a third Recharge SO won’t bring this up any sooner to really make a difference in how you use it. (Do you really care about, say, a 9-minute recharge versus the full 10-minutes? Numbers not to scale, but you get the idea.)

<ul type="square">[*]Carrion Creepers[/list]The second real jewel of the set, Creepers summons a series of gigantic vines at a targetted location. These malevolent tendrils do little damage, but they sure attract attention, letting your team move in. The Creepers take the alpha just fine, and there’s something terribly, terribly satisfying about seeing your targets flail in panic at the Tendrils of Doom. (Doom!)

Creepers will Slow enemies in the patch where you summon them (no to-hit check) and KnockDown your foes when they swing and connect. They’re fairly resilient and toss Roots occasionally, keeping everything immobilized (the KnockDown still seems to happen despite this). Long recharge, good duration – and the creepers often “follow you,” sprouting from the ground at the next group you get close enough to, again producing the Slow effect.

There’s some debate about what governs how many of those fantastic ferns you get when you use this power. The number of enemies in the targetted ground patch matters, for sure; there’s a rough concensus that ACC in the power seems to help increase the number of Creepers, but it’s very hard to test. Thankfully, you’d slot this for ACC anyways, to make sure the ferns can KD the heroes you’re villainizing, so the debate won’t keep you up nights.

With sufficient recharge, you can toss these out perhaps twice a mission. Take 2 ACC, 2-3 Recharge, and call me in the morning.

<ul type="square">[*]Giant Fly Trap[/list][ QUOTE ]
Daisy Sez: Finally! It’s all about me, me, me!

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The good and ugly, with some of the bad thrown in for good measure. Your Fly Trap is a cheerful beast, best fed regularly and at a distance, because it’s quite enthusiastic about feeding time. More than one Plant Dominator has come to a sticky end thanks to the puppy-like enthusiasm of a carnivorous two-ton plant at dinner time. (In memoriam, Dr. Myopia.)

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Daisy Sez: You didn’t mention I’m lovable and need affection.

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You keep saying that, but you just want my readers to get a little closer.

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Daisy Sez: I can’t get no… satisfaction… mmm…

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Not helping.

Daisy, err, your Fly Trap, follows you well, does moderate damage with thrown thorns (lethal/minor toxic) and tosses Entangle seeds at her targets. Her melee bite is quite impressive (lethal damage), but she doesn’t often get close. She can stand up to a few melee hits, which improves your survivability, and any added damage output helps you to push ahead.

Note that your pet will need slotting to be really useful. Fresh out of the cage, your plant is still learning the ropes, so be patient with her.

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Why Can’t You Be More Like (Mastermind) Mike?
You’ll never have the level of control over your pet that the scruffy guy with the gangsters seems to, or that Clockwork refugee with its Robot pals. Daisy, as noted, has issues with melee, and if you’re stealthing up to a group to Confuse them, she may decide to throw a preemptive volley of thorns. This is one good reason not to lead from the front in large teams, unless you’re careful. And yes, she does not do well with Sleeps.[/b]

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Wet Blanket Time
Your damage issues are not solved. You will still get debt when things go wrong; your pet will not taunt the Freak Tank off of you. The Fly Trap is a good tool, but Magic Level 32, contrary to outsider rumor regarding pets, won’t “change your life.” Daisy’s effects are hard to see, adding to some feelings that she’s not doing much; her reluctance to close for melee also severely curtail her damage.

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Professor Winterseed's Guide to Plant/Ice Dominators

Welcome to a brief guide on life as a Plant/Ice Dom. I’d like to thank, first, everyone who made this possible – from the outstanding heroes and villains of Triumph and Virtue (Victor Nefarious, Xirella, Arc’, Jules Garred and others) – to the people who helped me test those more interesting aspects of COV, such as “how many mobs *can* you fit in a room before your graphics card ignites,” and “how long can a Dominator tank Infernal.” (2.1 seconds.)

Thanks also to my Giant Fly Trap, Daisy, who’ll be helping me with this guide.

(A separate section on IOs will be added a little later.)

Table of Contents:<ul type="square">[*]Playing a Dominator, or: “Blastroller! Contraster! Let Your Powers Combine!” [*]Domination: Not Your Nuke[*]The Plant/Ice Dominator: Let’s Get Specific.
[*]Primary: Don’t Feed the Plants (They’ll Feed Themselves)[*](Strangler) Accuracy And You: Or, How *Did* You Miss That Gigantic Robot?[*](Seeds of Confusion) Experience and Experiencing Its Lack[*](Seeds of Confusion) Know your Hero Infestation Why Can’t You Be More Like (Mastermind) Mike?[*](Fly Trap) Wet Blanket Time[*]Secondary: That Cold, Cold Heart of Yours (Please Stop The Hitting)[*](Ice Bolt) Side Notes on Slotting Your Secondary[*](Power Boost) Magnitude: Why That Hero PWNd j00.
[*]Travel Powers and You: Commuting, Rogue Isles Style.[*]Recommended Power Pools[*]Sample Build: Professor Winterseed [/list]
Playing a Dominator, or: “Blastroller! Contraster! Let Your Powers Combine!”

Congratulations: you’re the envy of Controllers and the Blaster’s dream. Effortless mastery of the battlefield with the firepower to cut down anything in your path… right? Well, sort of. You do have a good offense, just like those gin-swigging depressed Controllers in Pocket D keep asking you about; but you don’t have the heart to tell them that instead of Controller-duration effects and Blaster-level damage, it’s close to the reverse.

The Good: <ul type="square">[*]Strong controls, over time[*]Good team contribution[*]Safe soloing, if careful[*]Control *and* damage[/list]
The Bad:<ul type="square">[*]Poor AOE lockdown, compared to Controllers[*]Endurance issues[*]Sub-par damage for an “assault” secondary[*]Low HP[/list]
Your primary powers don’t last as long as a full-blown Controller, which means you’ll need to cycle more powers to achieve the kind of lockdown you want: equally, your secondary doesn’t offer the synergies that the Defender sets often provide (such as Storm’s Freezing Rain, Dark’s Fearsome Stare, or TA’s Glue Arrow, and etc.). Added to this, your offense isn’t going to be amazing even after SOs – it’s a long-running gripe that Dominators need to be given some additional punch as an “assault” class. Adding insult to injury, your powers are also endurance-intensive which, combined with needing to cycle them multiple times to knock out your foe, can be a real headache.

Daisy Sez: Rrrrrgh! (crunch, crunch, spit)

Right, Daisy. It sounds pretty dire, doesn’t it? Well here’s the good news: you’re not a Controller or a Blaster, sure, but you don’t need to be. Your talents are invaluable in a team, and pretty strong solo as well: your damage isn’t amazing, but it’s a lot better than it sounds on first read. Your primary is a major source of damage mitigation in COV and you’ll never be second-fiddle on a team, especially in the higher levels; and your attacks will definitely let your team knock out their targets that vital bit faster. Solo, use your head and there’s nothing you can’t handle, given a little time – from Freak Tanks to Carnie Ringmistresses, the world is your evil oyster.

Be aware of the drawbacks of the Archetype and you’ll find it a lot easier and more enjoyable to work within those limits – and admit it, haven’t you always wished you could Strangle, Freeze, Crush or Terrify those Longbow while also being the one cutting them down?

Domination: Not Your Nuke

You know how blasters jump in now and then and annihilate everything in one massive wave, then say “I’ve been waiting all mission for a good moment to let loose?” Right. Don’t treat Domination that way. The temptation is to think of the power as a panic button or boost for only tough fights; this is a good way to slow yourself down, decrease your damage and controls, and probably to have less fun (which we should avoid at all costs).

Domination, especially on a team, but even solo, recharges quickly. It’s an effect that last 90 seconds, and recharges in 200; so without any other factors, solo, you could have Domination up almost half the time.

It does make sense to look for some strategic situations to pop Domination, or to wait up if you think it’s close to the end of the task and you need to Hold that boss first-off; but spend some time using domination to push through medium-tough fights or just refill your Endurance bar, and see how it feels for you. All in all, you’re not “losing out” by using it – much like saving BuildUp or Aim or Enrages only for the end of a mission doesn’t “save” you anything at all.

**Note also that Invention Enhancement Set bonuses – global recharge – will let you recharge Domination faster. For more math on this, see Brev’s guide to Perma-Dom. Yes, it’s possible, just very pricey and requires a very specific build.**

The Plant/Ice Dominator: Let’s Get Specific.

Your primary is beautiful to watch and effects in general are easy to identify even in the biggest battles. You have a good hold with a bonus to accuracy and a great deal of AOE control, including Carrion Creepers, an AOE pet/effect unique to Plants. You can enjoy a good taste of Mind Control’s last power, Mass Confusion, at level 8 – being green was never this easy. It’s a powerset with amusing flavor, if you enjoy concept and bios, as well as a surprising degree of versatility.

Your secondary allows some good AOE and reasonable damage, with the nice effect of slowing movement of your targets, and that lovely –recharge effect. Each secondary offers a Build-Up/Aim-style click power to make your other abilities a bit better: for Ice, you get to enjoy the lovely Power Boost, which can help you make your AOE Hold much more effective, as well as perhaps tossing out a few single-target Holds that will last half of forever. And of course, you can simply boost the Slow effects of your attacks on that Elite Boss or Freedom Phalanx foe tormenting your team.

Between the hard control (holds) and soft control (creepers, confuse) in your little hothouse of horrors and the debuff, effects-boost and AOE damage of your cold, chillingly lethal weaponry, you’ll never be at a loss to cripple your enemies.

Agree with Princess Grace on the target cap. It's an added problem, since it cuts down even on the panic button function of an AOE hold.

Also agree re/ the rephrasing of "can't be used every fight;" I think the issue isn't so much that the AOE Holds have a long recharge as much as that the recharge is now SO long as to make it a one-per-mission event.

And yes, it's more prone to get ignored by The Powers That Be if it's even remotely suggestive of the old "we want our I-5 AOEs back" thing.

What issue was that, anyways?

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Dredging this one up again, I'd really appreciate some input. Do you think that these are genuine issues that belong in the list? Do you think the wording is ok?

Ice Control lost some effectiveness relative to the other control primaries when it was ported over from Controllers. Specifically two of its fast recharging AoE control powers, Shiver and Arctic Air, were reduced in effectiveness, but are not in any way improved by Domination.

Ice Control benefits less from Domination because it has no fast recharging effective damage mitigation power which is boosted by Domination (like Flashfire, Wormhole, or Seeds of Confusion).

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I think this is nice, cogent and calm way to put things. Good writeup.

They'll fix that one in Issue 20.

I'm going to go with QoL on that one; it's not Dom-specific, as that also seems to happen on other characters.

I think keeping the List narrowly focused may be better - but it's not "my" list =)

Nice guide, and good reading.

Curiosity - does Liquefy do KD or KB ? I may have misread, but I thought you mentioned both.

If you haven't already, definately also post a link to this in the Corr FAQ thread!

Good points, Min and Dark. I'm convinced; if it were mobile, yes, that would fix things acceptably.

Just to chew on the bone a bit more though, and as an aside, I think it sees uses for MMs because they have multiple minions to affect. For /Traps Corrupters, for example, the concensus is also "meh."

Ah well. If it moved, sure, I'd take and slot it - who doesn't need an extra free +regen? Maybe something like Force Feild Generator, a glowing ball of green.

While it's a nitpick for an otherwise great set, is it worth noting that in addition to the listed "tends to get in the way" complaint for Plant Control's Spirit Tree, the tree's +regen effect is so small as to be underpowered?

Also, for Fly Trap, much as it used to be for Jack Frost, the pet is very reluctant to enter melee; further, having the pet out means that Spore Cloud is entirely usefless.