Local_Man

Jeeze, you guys really don't know the difference between a mediocre movie and a really, really BAD movie.

Untouchables certainly had some things going for it (like an actual plot, dialogue that mostly makes sense and actual characters). Robin Hood would have been a pretty good film with someone other than Costner in the lead -- like someone who could speak with an English accent. Rickman, Freeman and Slater were all pretty good.

Battlefield Earth was pretty horrible. It was actually better than The Visitor but still pretty horrible. Of the movies discussed above, it is the only really BAD movie. None of the others come close. Catwoman was pretty bad, but at least it had Halle Berry to look at. Showgirls is infamous as a bad movie. But none compare to The Visitor. The only other movie I have ever seen as bad was "Frogs," but that one didn't have any big name people in it.

I bet none of you have seen this one. The only reason I saw it was that a few friends of mine were extras in the film. And I actually sat through the entire thing to try to catch them in the background. Horrible movie.

The Visitor (1979)
Staring:
Mel Ferrer (actor, writer, director, former husband of Audrey Hepburn)
Glenn Ford (actor, including Jonathan Kent in Superman, the Movie)
Lance Henrikson (actor, best known as Bishop from Aliens)
John Huston (actor and acclaimed director, won 2 Oscars)
Sam Peckinpah (mostly famous as a director and writer, including The Wild Bunch)
Shelly Winters (actress, won 2 Oscars)

The movie was the absolute worst movie I have ever paid money to see. It made Plan 9 from Outer Space seem coherent and well acted. All of the movies previously mentioned were masterpieces compared to the original theatrical release of The Visitor. Here's part of a review I found:

"Plot: Satan, the intergalactic dictator, has succeeded in fathering a child on Earth to Barbara Collins, a genetically perfect woman. The resulting ten-year-old girl Katie has amazing powers. Satan’s board of directors on Earth explain to Barbara’s lover Raymond that he must marry her and father a similar boy. But when Barbara refuses him, Satan’s minions arrange that she be abducted by a UFO and artificially inseminated.


The results are bizarrely incoherent to say the least. What makes the film halfway watchable is its often surreally striking but totally non-sequitir imagery – Glenn Ford gets attacked by an overgrown clay pigeon; John Huston, who presides over an intergalactic group of bald-headed children, spends the film on top of a building amid flashing blue landing lights; Linda Blair-like Paige Connors spends the film wearing oversized sunglasses and when she removes them reveals gleaming metallic eyes underneath – and in the opening few minutes psychically blows up the ball at a basketball game; and in a wonderful parroting of the Close Encounters highway scene Joanne Nail gets kidnapped by a UFO and artificially inseminated, and is later gets shoved through a glass fishtank. Much pseudo-mystical twaddle is bandied, absolutely nothing makes sense.
[The director] assembled an amazing cast of American marquee names – including the likes of John Huston, Shelley Winters, Mel Ferrer, Sam Peckinpah and Glenn Ford, as well as a young Lance Henriksen. All seem to wander through the film clearly having very little idea what they are supposed to be doing and no doubt looking for the paycheck they must have been in dire need of."

Actually, Helluva, it is a pretty good build. Just for comparison, here is the build that I am working for. (I'm too cheap to go out and buy those expensive purple sets. I'm slowly getting a few of them as drops and then picking up others one by one.) My build has just a few small changes from yours. (Actually, I took your build and made the changes that I plan to follow -- the order of powers I use will be a little different.)

I don't bother slotting for Slow, as several powers have Slow in them such that there is no need to slot it. I like having Recall Friend for stealthing missions. And most of all, slotting Sleet up with procs ends up being a LOT of damage. I used Frost Breath rather than Ice Storm . . . I like the fast-recharging power better.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.942
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Florida Snowman: Level 50 Technology Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Cold Domination
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Teleportation
Power Pool: Flight
Ancillary Pool: Ice Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Spectral Wounds -- Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(43), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), Decim-Build%(50), HO:Nucle(50)
Level 1: Infrigidate -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Blind -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(3), HO:Nucle(13), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(13), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(17), Dmg-I(17)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- HO:Micro(A), EndRdx-I(7)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 8: Deceive -- CoPers-Conf/Rchg(A), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(9), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(9), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(11), CoPers-Conf%(15)
Level 10: Ice Shield -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(11)
Level 12: Recall Friend -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 14: Fly -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 16: Super Speed -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(19), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(19), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg(21), S'bndAl-Build%(34)
Level 20: Group Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 22: Flash -- UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(A), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(23), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(23), UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(25), UbrkCons-Dam%(27)
Level 24: Glacial Shield -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(25)
Level 26: Spectral Terror -- Abys-Acc/Rchg(A), Abys-Acc/EndRdx(27), Abys-Fear/Rng(40), Abys-Acc/Fear/Rchg(43), Abys-Dam%(46)
Level 28: Benumb -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(29), RechRdx-I(29)
Level 30: Arctic Fog -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-EndRdx/Rchg(31), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31), LkGmblr-Rchg+(31), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(34), S'fstPrt-ResKB(34)
Level 32: Phantasm -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(33), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), HO:Nucle(37)
Level 35: Sleet -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36), LdyGrey-%Dam(36), Achilles-ResDeb%(36), Posi-Dam%(37), ImpSwft-Dam%(37)
Level 38: Heat Loss -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(39), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(39), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(39), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(40), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(40)
Level 41: Ice Blast -- Apoc-Dmg/Rchg(A), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(42), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Apoc-Dam%(43)
Level 44: Frozen Armor -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-EndRdx/Rchg(45), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(45), LkGmblr-Rchg+(45)
Level 47: Frost Breath -- Ragnrk-Dmg(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(48), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(48), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Hibernate -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 50: Spiritual Core Paragon
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(5), Numna-Heal(15)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), EndMod-I(3), P'Shift-End%(5)
------------

Set Bonus Totals:

• 16.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 16.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 16.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 16.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 16.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 16.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 16.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 16.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 3% Defense(Melee)
• 3% Defense(Smashing)
• 3% Defense(Lethal)
• 3% Defense(Fire)
• 3% Defense(Cold)
• 5.5% Defense(Energy)
• 5.5% Defense(Negative)
• 3% Defense(Psionic)
• 4.25% Defense(Ranged)
• 3% Defense(AoE)
• 2.25% Max End
• 4% Enhancement(Confused)
• 57% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 115% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 2.75% Enhancement(Terrorized)
• 5% FlySpeed
• 95.4 HP (9.38%) HitPoints
• 5% JumpHeight
• 5% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -12)
• Knockup (Mag -12)
• MezResist(Confused) 5%
• MezResist(Held) 5%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 7.75%
• MezResist(Sleep) 5%
• MezResist(Stun) 5%
• MezResist(Terrorized) 5%
• 17% (0.28 End/sec) Recovery
• 94% (3.98 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 5.04% Resistance(Fire)
• 5.04% Resistance(Cold)
• 5% RunSpeed

Arctic Fog + Stealth IO in Hover will use less endurance. For most of PvE, both hit the stealth cap so are equal in terms of invisibility. With Arctic Fog, you get some additional Resistance to Fire, Cold and Energy Damage, plus the Defense in it does not suppress. (AF has 3.75% base Defense, SI has 2.25% after suppression, or 4.5% before suppression.) For High Perception foes, SI is a little better. Arctic Fog uses .26 endurance (before any EndRdx) and Hover uses .0975. Compare that to Superior Invis, which uses .52 endurance before any EndRdx.

Most of the time on my Ill/Cold, I use Arctic Fog + Super Speed (slotted with EndRdx only). I have Superior Invis, but rarely use it -- and I may respec out.

Illusion/Sonic is a fairly rare combo . . . Sonic in general is pretty rare, and it only has limited synergy with Illusion. On the Illusion side, I suggest you take a look at my Ill/Rad guide, linked in my sig. It has a lot of information on slotting, including sets that will maximize Recharge.

And Recharge is where you want to go, mostly to get Phantom Army up as much as possible.

On the APP choice: Frankly, I think Ice is a pretty good choice but you may want to consider Frost Breath instead of Ice Storm. Without an AoE Immob, it is hard to keep foes in the area of effect of the Storm. Frost Breath is faster damage and faster Recharge. I use Ice on my Ill/Storm and Ill/Cold. On my Ill/Rad and Ill/TA, I use Fire -- Fireball is pretty awesome, and Fire Blast has slightly more damage. But Ice's Defense-based Armor and Hibernate are very nice to have. Psi and Primal's blasts are slightly slower and are damage types that are more resisted. And Earth's Hurl Boulder is just too slow.

The best thing to do is try to make a build yourself, then post it here for comments. Plant/Storm has a number of "personal choices" that can go several ways depending upon your playstyle.

I would say the essential Plant powers (the ones you take as soon as they are available) are: Strangler, Roots (slotted for damage), Seeds of Confusion, Carrion Creepers and Venus Fly Trap. Vines is highly recommended. Entangle, Spore Burst and Spirit Tree are all optional and there are good reasons to take (or skip) all of them, depending upon your playstyle. I would personally say that Spore Burst is the most skippable power (but I have it on my Plant/Kin -- it has its uses). Entangle is useful solo as a single damage power. Spirit Tree can be somewhat helpful for longer battles, especially since */Storm does not have any self-heal.

On the Storm side, Freezing Rain is the most important power. I would highly recommend Steamy Mist, Hurricane, Lightning Storm and Tornado -- most people would agree but there are a few different opinions. Unfortunately, you are stuck with Gale. Snow Storm, O2 Boost and Thunderclap are all a matter of personal opinion -- I skipped Thunderclap since Plant doesn't have another AoE Stun to stack it, but I took the other two.

As for power pool choices, I would say that Hasten is strongly recommended. I personally like Super Speed for travel -- the Stealth in SS combines with Steamy Mist for full invisibility, and it is nice for battlefield maneuverability and I like it for "herdicaning." (I use a Raptor Pack when I need to get over things since the Raptor Packs are almost as fast as Fly and easy to get.) If you don't want Super Speed, then plan to get a Stealth IO (rather than taking the Stealth pool). Combat Jumping is nice to have for the Immob protection and as a nice place for several IOs.Some people like to build for Defense . . . I try to build more for effective control and Recharge. And look for Recovery and Endurance boosts, as Plant/Storm is hard on endurance.

I don't have a Grav/TA -- my experience with Grav is on my Grav/Storm, and my TA experience comes from an Ill/TA and a TA/Arrows Def. _Ail_ had some good comments. I'm not sure I agree with the comment about Acid Arrow, but I agree with everything else.

Personally, I'm not a fan of Flash Arrow. I'm also not a fan of Stealth, especially since half the defense suppresses right when you need it. I would drop both powers, change Super Jump to Super Speed and throw a Stealth IO in Super Speed. That way, you get FULL invisibility AND a travel power all in one toggle. Plus, it will free up a few slots. If you really want a place for a Luck of the Gambler, you could always take Hover, which has some utility.

I like having Ice Arrow . . . mostly for quickly stacking hold on a Boss. (It can also take another Baz Gaze set.) I also liked Glue Arrow on my Ill/TA, but he did not have an AoE Immob.

Speaking of AoE Immob, Damage in Crushing Field is not great. Try this . . . replace the common Damage with the Trap of the Hunter Damage proc in Mids. Your damage actually increases! Procs result in more damage than slotting the power for damage. It really depends on how much you use the power, but I mainly slot for Acc, EndRdx and then damage procs. If you use it a lot and want to devote 6-slots, one way to slot it might be two Acc/Mez Hami-Os, an EndRdx and three damage procs (Posi Blast, Trap of Hunter and Impeded Swiftness). The purple Grav Anchor Chance for Hold is fantastic if you use the power a lot.

Is this mostly a team character or solo? I can see going with Lift for a team character, but Propel does a LOT more damage if you have the time to wait for its animation. Remember that Containment doubles that damage, and you can see that Propel hits HARD. However, on teams, the animation is often so long that you "necro-blast," which is where you clobber something after a teammate just killed it.

Singularity is tough . . . but fitting in one or two of the +Resistance procs will make it a lot tougher. Also, an Acc/Mez or Dam/Mez Hami-O will enhance both the Hold and Immob duration in Singy . . . a Hami-O is worth slotting if you can. I find Singy is most valuable as a Tank/Controller, and the damage, while nice, is less important.

The majority of Fire/Kins go with the Earth APP rather than Ice. Fissure recharges much faster than Ice Storm, and the stun can stack with Flashfire. The short range of Fissure doesn't matter if you are already in melee for your other powers. The Rock Armor is ugly, but has slightly higher S/L numbers than Ice Armor. Seismic Smash gives you a large single target attack -- something that Fire/Kin otherwise lacks. And Earth's Embrace adds to survivability.

Looks like a nice set that will definitely be in big demand. All of the bonuses are very good. That 8.75% Recharge and the Ranged Defense make it desired for almost all max builds.

Plant Controllers are AoE Control and Damage specialists. The single most important power in the Plant Control primary is Seeds of Confusion. It is the signature power, much like Phantom Army for Illusion. It should be taken at level 8 and 6-slotted quickly. Standard SO/common IO slotting would be 2 Acc, 2 Confuse, 2 Recharge. With IOs you can fit in some Range or EndRdx in there, too. But you want this power up as soon as possible.

The core strategy for a Plants Controller is to get in optimal position to throw Seeds and get as many as possible, then lock them down with Roots for the Damage Over Time. If you aren't using the Seeds+Roots combo as much as possible, then you are underutilizing your controller. Creepers is a nice Alpha at times and adds a lot . . . probably the third most important power in the set.

Strangler: Slotting for Damage is OK, but this is most importantly a Control power (since you should be using Roots and Entangle for damage) Slot it for Acc, Hold and Rech (default is 2/2/2). With IOs you can add some Damage or EndRdx.

Roots: I disagree with Carnifax here -- 6-slot Roots to cap for Damage with decent Accuracy and some Recharge, as it has twice the damage of other AoE Immobs. You don't need to slot Immob since the duration is already longer than its recharge. 2 Acc, 3 Dam, 1 Rech. More Recharge really helps you spam it for more damage, and EndRdx is also needed. This is your main source of Damage.

Entangle is a skippable power, but OK for some single target Damage Over Time. Slot it like a damage power, minimum of 1 Acc, 3 Damage. Recharge, more Accuracy or EndRdx are options for additional slots and/or IO slotting. Again, the Recharge is much shorter than the duration, so it does not need Immob.

Level 8 -- NOTHING is more important than taking Seeds of Confusion here.

Spirit Tree: For a Plant/Therm, this power is completely skippable. It is a fixed regen boost, mainly useful for AV fights. Only take it if you have nothing better late in the build.

Defense slotting in general and in Hover and Stealth in particular: Unless you have other Defense to stack, slotting for small amounts of Defense is mostly wasted slots.

Fly: Since I-18, Fly is automatically at Flightspeed cap with no enhancements. Therefore, slotting Flightspeed in Fly (or Swift) is a compete waste. A single EndRdx is all it needs, unless you want to put a Stealth IO or a Zephyr -Knockback in there. Flightspeed only gives any benefit to Hover.

Creepers is a power that has been heavily debated. Recharge, then Damage or certain Damage procs (The Impeaded Swiftness and Posi Blast appear to work all the time, the others don't work all the time.)

Stealth: Why not take Super Speed instead? The Defense in Stealth is nearly worthless and suppresses. Super Speed gives the same stealth, plus a travel power. AND you can put a Celerity Stealth in Super Speed for full invisibility. AND it can help you get in the optimal position for Seeds quickly and without being seen. AND you can slot a Zephyr -Knockback if you want (but the Karma ones are cheaper). I generally slot my Super Speed with an EndRdx and the Celerity Stealth proc.

I'm not exactly an expert at Therm, but skipping Heat Exhaustion is a mistake.

I'm not a big fan of Vengence or the Leadership pool as a whole, but many people like them. Vengence is a very situational power and those slots can probably be better used somewhere else.