Blood Red Rose guide to Nastiness 1.0
By
Death_and_Taxes,
Posted on: 2005-12-28 10:58 in Player Guides
Happy to get feedback? 
How about some more pvp ideas?
Some us pvp maniacs wonder how that works.
Is your pet squishy? Do you debuff and then attack?
What is a typical attack string?
Well, you get the idea.
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How about some more pvp ideas?
Some us pvp maniacs wonder how that works.
1/ Is your pet squishy? 2/ Do you debuff and then attack?
3/ What is a typical attack string?
Well, you get the idea.
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1. Pet's not so squishy, and annoying enough with Immobilizes, ranged & melee attacks that he will catch the attention of who-ever you're fighting.
2. The only debuffs that Plant/Thorns has is the inherent defense debuff that Thorns has. I generally open with Impale, or Carrion Creepers (CC has knockdown & slow).
3. Depends - if my oponent is airborne, then it changes a little.
Generally on first encounter: Aim/Impale/Vines/Strangler/Creepers - then move in. Spamming Strangler every time it's available. Grounded it'll be Creepers/Aim/Impale/Strangler. Probably.
In close, it becomes Skewer/Ripper/Brawl/Thorn Barrage/Brawl/Impale... if I can remember it and not devolve into a simple button mash. All the while, spamming Strangler. If the opponent is not held, I'll try & stay outta range a little bit. If I'm in a group melee, I'll stay out initially, using ranged attacks. Once they're all gathered, I'll hit with Seeds too - then go in.
Within Siren's Call, I've found that a very good tactic is to cast Creepers on the water - not visible at that point & Heroes will eagerly come in. Best used in a team situation with you as the bait. Make sure your buds are ready to rush in tho'!
Not to be anal or anything, but do you suppose next time you post this guide you could do so with a more descriptive subject line than "nastiness" so that folks who are looking for information on Plant/Thorn Dominators will be better able to find it?
That's a fair comment.
It is listed in the Domination guides thread in the Dominator Forum, but I do agree... & wish the thread title line was longer .
Mostly I agree with this guide. Differences of opinion or just plain opinion follow:
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Entangle A waste for you, you dont want things able to hit you. And given this is a single target immobilize, you dont need/want it.
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At low levels I found this to be handy for it's damage, and keeping melee types at a distance. Now that I am level 32, I only use it as an afterthought and really should have gotten rid of it when I used my respec. Next time...
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Roots an AoE immobilize. For pretty much the same reasons as Entangle, avoid this.
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No, it's a very good power. You often don't want to hold the mobs you've confused but you also don't want them sprinting all over creation. Which they sometimes do. It is also very good damage for the endurance cost, and gives you that much more damage against all those confused mobs. And last but not least, holding things in place is very good. I confuse, the mobs generally run together to fight, then I use Roots to keep them in a good group for Fling Thorns.
I recommend this power highly. For a longer life span, though, don't spam this power. Use it again only as it wears off, or you will draw agro like a platoon of tankers.
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Spore Burst Not a bad power per se, useful in quite a few situations, but just doesnt fit nor do you need it.
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My first thought on seeing this power was 'AoE sleep + AoE damage = waste of time and endurance using the AoE sleep.' Now I can see a use for it when you have gigantic groups or two groups close together. But I'm still not going to take it.
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Seeds of Confusion Another of the defining powers of the set. Perhaps the most useful too. Youll use this power in your general attack MO.
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*This* is our damage power. Six minions can take down a boss pretty quickly. One useful thing to note about the power - it also affects mobs right behind you (in melee range).
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Spirit Tree As with Spore Burst, quite useful. But given your fluid, dynamic playstyle, itll cramp your style as its an immobile power.
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It's noticible, it's saved my life several times, I didn't take it when I did the respec. The time is a little too limited for long fights, and being immobile and very slow to recharge means you very often can't have it. I miss it, but mostly because it's fun to plant them on statue heads, or in vendor carts, stuff like that.
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Vines Perhaps the least of the powers that you will take, but invaluable in two ways. Firstly to build up mag to get a hold on a boss when your Domination bar isnt fully up
Secondly, as an OH HELL power to lock down some fiends.
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I dropped it at the respec, planning to pick it back up at 30 and see what life was like without it. Usually didn't miss it at all, but bosses became very much harder and having it would have saved my life a few times. I don't use it very often but it is very good to have available.
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Carrion Creepers The coolest looking of your defining powers. Very useful: they slow, they knockdown, they take alpha strikes for you. They even follow you around for a lil while!
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They take alpha strikes for you. And for everybody else. Very good way to start a fight, especially considering the range it's got. The frequent knockdowns save you a lot of pain, and combined with the slow are handy for keeping targets clustered. Rarely will fling someone out of the area, but not too often. Don't slot for Knockback or it will happen more.
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Fling Thorns Quite good, and part of your initial attack sequence. Its a useful power to hit a group of your enemies, and thus make sure you get exp for them when theyre confused.
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My best damage against groups. Add a couple of range extenders and you greatly increase the affected area.
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Aim A boost to accuracy & damage. Vital to your dominance - use it to get an Impale in, that important hold, or that vital confuse.
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A must-have when fighting red and purple minions. I've been useful in Vicious and Ruthless groups of people three and four levels higher than I am because of this power.
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Thorn Burst AoE, moderate damage. Not a bad power at all, but with this toon, I want an aggressive single-target high damage attack. Simply not enough room.
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Good damage for a tight group but the range is melee. The slow animation combined with the rarity of really tight groups means I'll be dropping it at the next respec.
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Thorntrops A useful slow & DoT - & especially useful if youre pulling groups, but with all the control available to your primary, you dont really need this.
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The damage for this power is truly pitiful, and it's a scattering power. Plant/Thorn is all about clustering, so this isn't working so well. The slow is nice, but the Creepers slow too - the short range and small area have mostly kept me from using this outside a Creeper patch anyway, where it's effects aren't very noticible. Another power to be lost at respec.
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Ripper Great
Animation times a lil long (as with Impale), but the damage is good, and its a knock-down. Again, a melee power - but has a cone (very small, most I've ever hit is 3!).
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This is a very wide cone out to close melee range. I plan to pick it up, treating it as a single target melee attack. I find I often get in hand-to-hand with two or three minions so I should end up getting a lot of mileage out of this power.
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Level 6 Swift [runspd] (Could take Hurdle instead
)
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Hurdle is faster than Swift (?!?) and the extra jump height is very useful. Swift seems more like it's for combat movement, hurdle is like half of a travel power. It has been good enough so far... the MMs are still buffing when I arrive.
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Level 12 Hover [end red] (Travel power is really a matter of personal choice, I prefer Fly due to the nature of The Rogue Isles)
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I have to agree here, and may end up with Fly after my next respec. I miss those jetpacks. For PvP in particular, Fly is good. Fly high, and use your immobilize attacks and Impale to drop people out of the sky when they come for you. The poison damage has a chance of finishing them off if they fall far enough to be left with only a few hp. I once took out most a team this way, with just one use of Roots.
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Level 16 Health [heal x3]
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I had Health three-slotted, dropped it to one slot after respec. Haven't really noticed a difference. I still heal plenty quick between fights, and given how squishy we are it isn't really significant in one. I never seem to take 'just barely enough' damage to put me down. I'm usually not in any danger, and when I am I'm chugging handfuls of my favorite green candy.
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Level 22 Stealth [end red] (key necessary for the basic premise of the attack cycle)
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I've found the victims to be slow enough to respond that I get in the first shot anyway just by running up or jumping in to fire it. And since I got Carrion Creepers I often start a fight from a distance with it. Other mobs run in to fight the vines and no one pays any attention to you until after you do something anyway. I consider this to be more of a travel convenience for a Plant/Thorn.
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Level 26 Carrion Creepers (acc/recharge x3/ slow x1)
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Accuracy boosting seems to produce more immobilizations and more knockdowns. Slow doesn't affect their power recharge rate, only speed, and that not by much. I slotted one accuracy, three recharge reductions and two endurance reductions. Might change one or both of the endurance over to another accuracy, or (since the power is long lasting and affects so many) damage.
"vini vidi vici: a complete guide to domination" has this whipped. Go take a look at his guide, maybe you would learn something. After that guide, there really isnt that much room left for specialized guides like this. Thanks for your efffort man but someone beat you to it with a much more encompasing guide.
I've also got to argue against calling single and multi target immbos useless. Yes, Dom's are more melee-ish than Trollers - but sometimes you don't want to deal with that meleer *right now* and being able to stick him/them in place helps.
@ Eldest. Gee... yes, you're right! What was I thinking? Thanks for your constructive comment. [/sarcasm]
@ Memphis Bill - Valid commentary (much more so than 'others') but sorry, no room for immobilizes. There isn't a single power I'd drop to take one to take a power that for a power that allows a mob to hit me whilst he's 'immobilized'. I'd agree, they have their place... but not in a melee intensive build. Please note, I've taken my Dominator to L40, playing on a wide variety of difficulties, and never once have I wanted for an immobilize.
@ Tyrak - nicely written, it would seem that most of what you wrote is in concordance with my opinions too. Still, most of what you disagreed on would indicate that you play more at range than I do... please note that this guide was intended for melee range:
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In our quest to make a Dominator thats heavily using melee & close proximity attacks,
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Thus the focus on melee attacks. Again, I took this to L40 & had no problems/issues at all.
On Roots, my response would be the same as made to Bill: not a power that I'd drop to take it. I do understand that it's a matter of choice. I made mine & I'm not at all disappointed in it.
So it's a specific guide... very specific for a very specific build (not aimed at you Tyrak - it would appear some *dear readers* have problems with 'specific' guides).
great build very smilar to mine except i've found no need for the fitness pool and have taken the AoE Immobilise and 2 irrelevant but concept working powers in place of health and stamina. found no problems so far. due to having a couple of powers which are "active" control meaning i don't need to keep recasting, which is what always killed my controller and why i took fitness on him.
but over all a build i think would be extremely fun
Thanks for the positive feedback Ice. I'm looking at getting rid of the Fighting pool & maybe taking some other powers...
- Invisibility...
- Thorntrops...
Amongst other powers I want to test. Primarily for PvP.
you didnt meniton that skewer and ripper drops toggles... I am mad at you!
Hi Mali, this is Ghrowl =)
I have to say that Roots is an awesome power for PvP, nevermind that it's an AOE immob.. it also does DOT damage AND has -fly... I use it all the time in PvP to knock people out of the sky, then root em to the ground.. very handy
kinda like a ranged air superiority but better..
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(Originally posted in the Dominator Forums... now here I guess!)
The Blood Red Rose guide to Nastiness
OR...
Another Plant Control/Thorny Assault Guide
When I first decided to make a Dominator, I wanted to make one that would cope in both PvE & PvP. Geographically (I live in Japan & cant always find teams), it was necessary for me to make a toon that was able to comfortably solo. In addition, I like a toon that looks good and plants/thorns is great on the eye candy!!!
So
if youre interested in making a Plant Control/Thorny Assault Dominator thats a special fluid blend of aggression & subjugation this just might suit you.
In our quest to make a Dominator thats heavily using melee & close proximity attacks, first lets explore the power sets of Plants & Thorny Assault (note on accuracy most of my powers are slotted single accuracy SOs, & Ive found that to be effective).
Plant Control
Entangle A waste for you, you dont want things able to hit you. And given this is a single target immobilize, you dont need/want it.
Strangler Your bread & butter. One of the 3 defining powers of this set, and you get it immediately. A single target hold that has DoT damage. Get it, love it.
Roots an AoE immobilize. For pretty much the same reasons as Entangle, avoid this.
Spore Burst Not a bad power per se, useful in quite a few situations, but just doesnt fit nor do you need it.
Seeds of Confusion Another of the defining powers of the set. Perhaps the most useful too. Youll use this power in your general attack MO.
Spirit Tree As with Spore Burst, quite useful. But given your fluid, dynamic playstyle, itll cramp your style as its an immobile power.
Vines Perhaps the least of the powers that you will take, but invaluable in two ways. Firstly to build up mag to get a hold on a boss when your Domination bar isnt fully up
Secondly, as an OH HELL power to lock down some fiends.
Carrion Creepers The coolest looking of your defining powers. Very useful: they slow, they knockdown, they take alpha strikes for you. They even follow you around for a lil while!
Fly Trap Your pet. Whilst I wouldnt regard it as a defining power, it is very, very cool looking. And helps you on your merry, villainous way with immobilizers, and damage.
Thorny Assault
(Its important to note that all Thorny Assault is Def.)
Thorny Darts Useful starting power. Nice range, youll keep the damage relatively low so you can use this as a pulling power.
Skewer My favourite TA power. Quick animation, nice damage
but is melee. You have to get in & get dirty.
Fling Thorns Quite good, and part of your initial attack sequence. Its a useful power to hit a group of your enemies, and thus make sure you get exp for them when theyre confused.
Impale Simply put, a great power. It is fly, -jump, -def, -speed
so abuse that sucker. Has good range, good for knocking pesky heroes outta the sky. But beware: longish animation time.
Aim A boost to accuracy & damage. Vital to your dominance - use it to get an Impale in, that important hold, or that vital confuse.
Thorn Burst AoE, moderate damage. Not a bad power at all, but with this toon, I want an aggressive single-target high damage attack. Simply not enough room.
Thorntrops A useful slow & DoT - & especially useful if youre pulling groups, but with all the control available to your primary, you dont really need this.
Ripper Great
Animation times a lil long (as with Impale), but the damage is good, and its a knock-down. Again, a melee power - but has a cone (very small, most I've ever hit is 3!).
Thorn Barrage Awesome. Knockback, big DoT damage.
Power Choices by level (& suggested slotting)
Level 1 Strangler (acc x2/hold x2/recharge)
Level 1 Thorny Darts (acc/dmg)
Level 2 Skewer (acc/dmg x3/def debuff)
Level 4 Fling Thorns (acc/dmg x3)
Level 6 Swift [runspd] (Could take Hurdle instead
)
Level 8 Seeds of Confusion (acc x2/ Confuse Duration x2/ recharge x2)
Level 10 Impale [acc/dmg x3/slow]
Level 12 Hover [end red] (Travel power is really a matter of personal choice, I prefer Fly due to the nature of The Rogue Isles)
Level 14 Fly [end red x2/flight spd x3]
Level 16 Health [heal x3]
Level 18 Vines (recharge/ acc x2)
Level 20 Stamina [end mod x3] (not essential, but will make life a HEAP easier)
Level 22 Stealth [end red] (key necessary for the basic premise of the attack cycle)
Level 24 Aim [recharge]
Level 26 Carrion Creepers (acc/recharge x3/ slow x1)
Level 28 Boxing (no slots, keep for getting Domination up)
Level 30 Tough [dmg res x3] (helps when those holds just dont take!)
Level 32 Fly Trap (dmg x3/ acc x1/ def debuff x2)
Level 35 Ripper [acc/dmg x3/ def debuff]
Level 38 Thorn Barrage [acc/ dmg x3]
On Power Pools
Given I went for a more Battle-hardened/PvP oriented build, I took Tough from the Fighting Pool, but arguments could be made for taking the Medicine pool as well taking Aid Other & Aid Self (really helps with team-play & keeping your pet alive!)
Plan of attack (at mid-higher level)
Well look at two different modes of attack, all in all, both fairly simple.
Firstly, attacking groups. A smaller group, stealth in & target the rear-most mob in there. Hit em with Seeds of Confusion, then Fling Thorns. Throw Strangler on any loose mob. Destroy at leisure. For when youre a higher level, and feel like tackling a larger group (especially one with a boss in there) throw Creepers in first the rest of the cycles the same.
Secondly, attacking a boss. Domination needs to be built up first, so throw your single target hold on a mob, prefer one conning yellow, and beat up on it with low damage, fast recharge attacks dom bar should be up n ready in no time at all. Wipe out evil beasty, then go and get nasty on that Boss-type creature!
PvP notes: You might want to experiment with an extra slot of accuracy here for PvP this is a KEY PvP power: its your only bring-flier-down-to-earth power. If you feel you want to go that way, steal a slot from your plant. Hell be just as rabid without it!
On other options: If youre building a more team-oriented toon, opt for Spirit Tree, Roots & Spore Burst all very good powers, but more for team-play than solo dominance!
Well, thats about all on this, if I've helped one person, it's worth it
Hope to see you DOMINATING in game!
note: TY to Constant_Motion for suggestions...
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OMG! awsome build! made me want to make a plant/thorn dom 
great job! 10 cool points
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OMG! awsome build! made me want to make a plant/thorn dom great job! 10 cool points
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Not sure if you're havin' a dig... but... Umm... thanks? 
I am following this guide exactly for my new dominator... any updates?
Any changes due to patches which are relevant?
(Originally posted in the Dominator Forums... now here I guess!)
The Blood Red Rose guide to Nastiness
OR...
Another Plant Control/Thorny Assault Guide
When I first decided to make a Dominator, I wanted to make one that would cope in both PvE & PvP. Geographically (I live in Japan & cant always find teams), it was necessary for me to make a toon that was able to comfortably solo. In addition, I like a toon that looks good and plants/thorns is great on the eye candy!!!
So if youre interested in making a Plant Control/Thorny Assault Dominator thats a special fluid blend of aggression & subjugation this just might suit you.
In our quest to make a Dominator thats heavily using melee & close proximity attacks, first lets explore the power sets of Plants & Thorny Assault (note on accuracy most of my powers are slotted single accuracy SOs, & Ive found that to be effective).
Plant Control
Entangle A waste for you, you dont want things able to hit you. And given this is a single target immobilize, you dont need/want it.
Strangler Your bread & butter. One of the 3 defining powers of this set, and you get it immediately. A single target hold that has DoT damage. Get it, love it.
Roots an AoE immobilize. For pretty much the same reasons as Entangle, avoid this.
Spore Burst Not a bad power per se, useful in quite a few situations, but just doesnt fit nor do you need it.
Seeds of Confusion Another of the defining powers of the set. Perhaps the most useful too. Youll use this power in your general attack MO.
Spirit Tree As with Spore Burst, quite useful. But given your fluid, dynamic playstyle, itll cramp your style as its an immobile power.
Vines Perhaps the least of the powers that you will take, but invaluable in two ways. Firstly to build up mag to get a hold on a boss when your Domination bar isnt fully up Secondly, as an OH HELL power to lock down some fiends.
Carrion Creepers The coolest looking of your defining powers. Very useful: they slow, they knockdown, they take alpha strikes for you. They even follow you around for a lil while!
Fly Trap Your pet. Whilst I wouldnt regard it as a defining power, it is very, very cool looking. And helps you on your merry, villainous way with immobilizers, and damage.
Thorny Assault
(Its important to note that all Thorny Assault is Def.)
Thorny Darts Useful starting power. Nice range, youll keep the damage relatively low so you can use this as a pulling power.
Skewer My favourite TA power. Quick animation, nice damage but is melee. You have to get in & get dirty.
Fling Thorns Quite good, and part of your initial attack sequence. Its a useful power to hit a group of your enemies, and thus make sure you get exp for them when theyre confused.
Impale Simply put, a great power. It is fly, -jump, -def, -speed so abuse that sucker. Has good range, good for knocking pesky heroes outta the sky. But beware: longish animation time.
Aim A boost to accuracy & damage. Vital to your dominance - use it to get an Impale in, that important hold, or that vital confuse.
Thorn Burst AoE, moderate damage. Not a bad power at all, but with this toon, I want an aggressive single-target high damage attack. Simply not enough room.
Thorntrops A useful slow & DoT - & especially useful if youre pulling groups, but with all the control available to your primary, you dont really need this.
Ripper Great Animation times a lil long (as with Impale), but the damage is good, and its a knock-down. Again, a melee power - but has a cone (very small, most I've ever hit is 3!).
Thorn Barrage Awesome. Knockback, big DoT damage.
Power Choices by level (& suggested slotting)
Level 1 Strangler (acc x2/hold x2/recharge)
Level 1 Thorny Darts (acc/dmg)
Level 2 Skewer (acc/dmg x3/def debuff)
Level 4 Fling Thorns (acc/dmg x3)
Level 6 Swift [runspd] (Could take Hurdle instead )
Level 8 Seeds of Confusion (acc x2/ Confuse Duration x2/ recharge x2)
Level 10 Impale [acc/dmg x3/slow]
Level 12 Hover [end red] (Travel power is really a matter of personal choice, I prefer Fly due to the nature of The Rogue Isles)
Level 14 Fly [end red x2/flight spd x3]
Level 16 Health [heal x3]
Level 18 Vines (recharge/ acc x2)
Level 20 Stamina [end mod x3] (not essential, but will make life a HEAP easier)
Level 22 Stealth [end red] (key necessary for the basic premise of the attack cycle)
Level 24 Aim [recharge]
Level 26 Carrion Creepers (acc/recharge x3/ slow x1)
Level 28 Boxing (no slots, keep for getting Domination up)
Level 30 Tough [dmg res x3] (helps when those holds just dont take!)
Level 32 Fly Trap (dmg x3/ acc x1/ def debuff x2)
Level 35 Ripper [acc/dmg x3/ def debuff]
Level 38 Thorn Barrage [acc/ dmg x3]
On Power Pools
Given I went for a more Battle-hardened/PvP oriented build, I took Tough from the Fighting Pool, but arguments could be made for taking the Medicine pool as well taking Aid Other & Aid Self (really helps with team-play & keeping your pet alive!)
Plan of attack (at mid-higher level)
Well look at two different modes of attack, all in all, both fairly simple.
Firstly, attacking groups. A smaller group, stealth in & target the rear-most mob in there. Hit em with Seeds of Confusion, then Fling Thorns. Throw Strangler on any loose mob. Destroy at leisure. For when youre a higher level, and feel like tackling a larger group (especially one with a boss in there) throw Creepers in first the rest of the cycles the same.
Secondly, attacking a boss. Domination needs to be built up first, so throw your single target hold on a mob, prefer one conning yellow, and beat up on it with low damage, fast recharge attacks dom bar should be up n ready in no time at all. Wipe out evil beasty, then go and get nasty on that Boss-type creature!
PvP notes: You might want to experiment with an extra slot of accuracy here for PvP this is a KEY PvP power: its your only bring-flier-down-to-earth power. If you feel you want to go that way, steal a slot from your plant. Hell be just as rabid without it!
On other options: If youre building a more team-oriented toon, opt for Spirit Tree, Roots & Spore Burst all very good powers, but more for team-play than solo dominance!
Well, thats about all on this, if I've helped one person, it's worth it
Hope to see you DOMINATING in game!
note: TY to Constant_Motion for suggestions...