Brev's I6 Guide to Plant Domination & Psi Assault
By
Angry_Citizen,
Posted on: 2006-01-13 08:12 in Player Guides
I really like this guide. I found it extremely useful in designing a build for my Plant/Psi Dominator. However, after working up to level 32 with a similar build, I found myself becoming more and more unhappy with it. Fundamentally, my problem was depending on Drain Psyche (DP) for endurance. Yes, Drain Psyche slotted for recharge and endurance modification could supply all my endurance needs, but only when it was up and only when it hit enough enemies (to be fair, one enemy was often sufficient).
As a result, I found myself <ul type="square">[*]limiting my attacks when DP wasn't "running", resulting in slower build up of Domination and taking longer to defeat enemies when soloing.[*]running tactics for the extra acc to get DP to hit but wishing I didn't have to as it was another drain on my endurance. I wasn't running Assault at all as I just couldn't afford the endurance cost.[*]rushing in to a swarm of enemies, some times foolishly, to hit with DP.[/list]So, after doing the respec SF (Oh, how I hate that SF!), I played a bit on test and changed to a build that included Stamina. In exchange, I got rid of the stealth pool (Stealth/Invisibility/Phase Shift) and moved Vines out to level 35. The results: <ul type="square">[*]I can't steath missions any more, but I also don't feel like I need to do so.[*]I can use all my powers continuously, building Domination faster[*]I can easily keep Assault and Tactics running all the time.[*]I can slot DP up with heals. When things are going bad, I'm proably in a crowd of enemies. With Heal slotted DP I heal fast and still get some endurence relief. From what I hear, once I get three heal SOs in it I'll be regenning almost like a regen scrapper.[*]I still run into the middle of combat when perhaps I should have hung back, but I have better control over my scrapperitis 
and no longer feel like I have to rush in for the DP boost.[/list]Here is my new build plan (tested into lvl 32):
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Exported from Ver: 1.7.5.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Archetype: Dominator
Primary: Plant Control
Secondary: Psionic Assault
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01) Strangler:Acc(1)Hold(3)Hold(5)Rechg(7)Rechg(13)
01) Psionic Dart:Acc(1)
02) Mind Probe:Acc(2)Dmg(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)
04) Entangle:Acc(4)
06) Swift:Run(6)
08) Seeds of Confusion:Acc(8)Acc(9)ConfDur(9)ConfDur(11)Rechg(11)Rechg(13)
10) Recall Friend:EndRdx(10)
12) Assault:EndRdx(12)
14) Teleport:EndRdx(14)Range(15)Range(15)
16) Psychic Scream:Acc(16)Dmg(17)Dmg(17)Dmg(19)Rechg(19)EndRdx(37)
18) Health:Heal(18)
20) Stamina:EndMod(20)EndMod(21)EndMod(21)
22) Tactics:EndRdx(22)TH_Buf(23)TH_Buf(23)TH_Buf(31)
24) Drain Psyche:Rechg(24)Heal(25)Heal(25)Heal(34)Rechg(34)
26) Carrion Creepers:Acc(26)Rechg(27)Rechg(27)Rechg(31)Acc(34)
28) Subdue:Acc(28)Dmg(29)Dmg(29)Dmg(31)EndRdx(37)
30) Hover:EndRdx(30)
32) Fly Trap:Acc(32)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)DefDeBuf(37)
35) Vines:Acc(35)Acc(36)Hold(36)Hold(36)Rechg(40)
38) Psychic Shockwave:Acc(38)Dmg(39)Dmg(39)Dmg(39)Rechg(40)Rechg(40)
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01) Sprint:Run(1)
01) Brawl:Acc(1)
02) Rest:Rechg(2)
01) Domination:Empty(1)
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When i7 comes along, I'll probably put an ACC in the last slot in DP (assuming the inability to do so is fixed) and maybe put a couple of more heal Enhancements in Health.
i would make 1 small change switch the order of swift and recall friend, it makes you more team friendly a few lvls eariler and should work fine
Fluffy Bunny 1 Person SG
Rabid Bunny 1 Person VG
Both on Pinnacle
Hobbit's Hole 1 Person SG
Spider's Web 1 Person VG
Both on Freedom
Just an update for anyone using this guide (I know it was helpful to me). Drain Psyche has been fixed as of I7(June06). It now accepts accuracy enhancements.
Good point - and my currently recommended slotting for Drain Psyche is 2 Acc, 2 Rech, 2 Heal.
With 2 accuracies you should hit enough mobs to get a good endurance recovery rate anyway, and the heals help get a really decent hitpoint regeneration rate too.
I play a plant/plant, not a plant/psi, but I found this guide to be very useful, in that it gives the most detailed and accurate descriptions of plant powers in any guide, and its slotting advice is dead on. Thanks Brev!
Thank you very much Brev. Your guide is the only one I've seen with such detail about the Carrion Creepers (went looking for it just now).
Very excellent information that other guides seem to be lacking these days. 
Damage Proc Mini-FAQ
Just noticed Damage Proc Mini-FAQ wasn't working with new forums, it's been updated.
Awesome guide. The explanation of magnitude was especially useful to me in planning out my battles. Great data on the power uses too.
I wonder, Brev, if you're planning on updating this guide for Inventions?
Doom.
Yep.
This is really doom.
Maybe at some stage - depends when I next get the time.
i am currently working on my first plant/psi dom & currently at lvl 9. so far it's a whole lotta fun , and this guide is a HUGE help in terms of helping me choose what powers&slots i should be looking into getting. thanks so much for this great guide :]
Necropost FTW!
any updates on this combo since i6?
why re-ressurect this post?
Welcome to my guide to Plant Control with Psionic Assault. Plant is a very popular Dominator primary, partly because it's brand new, and also because it's both fun to play and a very effective control set - as long as you understand the value of confusion
On the otherhand Psi Assault is relatively uncommon as a secondary, mainly because of the view that it is a relatively low damage powerset (I'll come onto that later). I decided they might make a fun combo and I started playing one in beta, loved it, and decided to roll it again once CoV went live. There are some very nice synergies between Plant and Psi and you can create a devastating toon - particularly for playing in teams.
Invisibility is a better version of stealth, but you can't attack with it up, so its main use is for adding safety to travel. Phase Shift is more of a panic button since it can only be up for a maximum of 30 seconds.
If you spot any mistakes then please let me know and I will try to correct them. Any constructive feedback welcomed.
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What I'll be covering:
<ul type="square">[*] Plant Control & Psionic Assault - an introduction[*] Domination and Magnitude Mechanics[*] Plant Control Powers[*] Psionic Assault Powers[*] Pool Powers[*] My Build[*] Summary[/list]Hope you're sitting comfortably!
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Plant Control & Psionic Assault - an introduction
Plant Control is a very visual set, which features a mixture of immobilises, holds, confusion, sleep and knockdown. It also has a rather odd power for a control set to fill things out. There are lots of Area effect powers in Plant control and you will normally always have something to deal with the enemy. One weakness of plant control is flying mobs - the hold powers won't apply their status effect on flying mobs unless they are close to the ground, so you will probably want to have a means of getting flyers from the sky (fortunately there are several means to do so).
Psionic Assault is much like the other dominator secondaries - it is mainly a mixture of ranged and melee damage attacks, mostly single target, with a couple of big hitters and a utility power. It has a reputation for being the lowest damage secondary, which in some ways is a fair comment. Things do take a major turn when you get the final power though - and the damage isn't too bad on the way to it. Plant Control also gives the Psi Assault dominator a nice way to maximise the effectiveness of its very handy utility power (Drain Psyche).
Before we look at the powersets in more detail, there are a few things I should explain about the inherent power "Domination" and the differences between Dominators and Controllers...
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Domination and Magnitude Mechanics
Although dominators share most of the same primaries as controllers, they play rather differently from their hero cousins - both in terms of gameplay, and actual game mechanics. While controllers have a built in chance to 'critical hit' with their status attacks (allowing them to occasionally 'mez' bosses in one hit when normally it should take two), Dominators do not - in fact the base duration of their status attacks are shorter than those of controllers too, although the base magnitude of the two Archetypes' attacks are the same (critical mezzes aside). If you don't know about magnitude then read to the end of this section where I try to explain how this particular game mechanic works.
There are also big differences between the two archetypes' inherent powers. While controllers will do double damage to opponents that are 'Contained' (held, slept, immobilised or disoriented), dominators instead have a power called 'Domination' which gradually builds up as they attack until it is ready to be activated. Once activated (via a normal tray button), domination basically super-charges a Dominator for 90 seconds. Their status attacks both last longer, and have doubled magnitude - making them far more effective at controlling than controllers while the power is active. Their damage is also dramatically increased while Domination is in effect and their endurance bar is also completely filled when the power is activated. The status of the Domination power is indicated by a bar below the player's hitpoint bar. It gradually fills with each attack that is made (whether it hits or not), but will also gradually fade if no attacks are made for a while. At the end of the 90 seconds after Domination is activated the bar is emptied and the dominator will need to refill it with more attacks.
Psi Assault actually works very nicely for building domination as the attacks are all pretty low cost, and psi dart in particular is extremely fast recharging (alternating psi dart and brawl is probably the quickest and most efficient way to build domination if you can find a suitable target - Lt's are often a good option as they are low risk but have decent hitpoints). In normal gameplay you can expect to build domination once in a small mission and perhaps 2 or 3 times in a larger one, depending on how fast you are attacking.
If you don't know about magnitude then I will try to explain it now (skip on if you know what I'm talking about).
Status attacks (holds, disorients, immobilises, fears, confuses, etc.) work by applying a 'Magnitude' (or 'Mag') of that status to their target for a certain duration (the duration is dependent on the Resistance the mob has to status effects). Enemy mobs have varying Mag protection from status effects, but basically the Mag your status attack applies must exceed the protection a mob has in order for that mob to be overcome by that effect. If you apply another status attack to a target before the last one wears off then the Mags will stack while both attacks are still active, as long as the same status effect is being applied by each attack (i.e. holds only stack with holds, disorients only with disorients, not with each other). Most mobs have the same level of protection against all status effects, although there are a few exceptions (e.g. Arachnos Fortunatas have increased protection against holds, and all Nemesis have boss level protection from confuse and fear). Note: the stronger a mob is (both its rank and its level relative to you), the greater its resistance to status effects, so the faster any status attack will wear off them - so be careful when engaging +2s, +3s etc. as they may break free sooner than you are expecting.
Generally speaking though, Minions have only Mag 1 protection against all statuses, so any status attack will affect them in one go (the weakest status effect powers are Mag 2, but the vast majority of Dominator and Controller status attacks are Mag 3). Lieutenants have Mag 2 protection, so the weakest status attacks will only reduce their protection to 0 - meaning a further attack of the same type is needed in order to affect them. Since virtually all Dominator and Controller status attacks are Mag 3 though, Lt's should always be affected too (bar exceptions like the Fortunata's mentioned above). Bosses have Mag 3 protection and so most dominator and controller attacks will only reduce their protection to zero and a second attack of the same type will be needed to affect a boss. However if a controller critical hits with an attack they get a bonus +1 Mag to their attack, which will be enough to affect the boss in one hit. Similarly, if a Dominator has the Domination power active then all their magnitudes are doubled so they will be easily overcoming the Mag 3 protection with a +6 Mag attack.
Special type mobs are dealt with a bit differently. Elite Bosses are a bit like Bosses, but they have Mag 6 protection - so 3 normal holds need to be stacked to affect them, and even a Dominated hold will only reduce them to zero, requiring a second to actually affect them. AVs and Heros are even trickier - most of them alternate between two states of protection (indicated by small triangles around their chest). In the 'down arrow' state, they are the same as normal Bosses - meaning as long as the total Mag on them is 4 or more they will be affected by that status. In the 'up arrow' state however (which they will automatically switch to from time to time, even if they are currently held) they have extremely high protection to nearly all status effects - and even a Dominator with Domination active will find it very hard to overcome it. However you can still apply status attacks to an AV in the up arrow state and as soon as they drop into the down arrow state they will be instantly held again if enouh Mag is still applied on them. Immobilise is the [censored] in this special AV protection and is the one status effect that isn't highly protected against - meaning you should be able to keep most AVs or Heros permanently rooted (although a small number of AVs are naturally highly resistant to immobilise anyway). Occasionally you meet Heros or AVs that don't feature this special protection who have just Mag 3 protection, but it is quite rare. Giant Monsters always have extremely high status protection.
Now that's all out of the way, let's move onto the powers...
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Plant Control
Plant Control can be an extremely effective primary, and much of that is down to the mix of great AoE powers that work very nicely with each other and are effective from a very early level.
Plant Control also has some fairly unique powers that you won't see in any other control primary - Spirit Tree and the terrific Carrion Creepers.
So, onto the powers in more detail...
Entangle (ranged, single target immobilise + small damage)
Available at level 1
Entangle should be a pretty easily skipable power since immobilises don't really do much for dominators, especially in their single target form. They simply prevent movement but don't stop the enemy from attacking you - not much use most of the time. For controllers they are more useful as they give them another means to get containment damage, but for dominators there isn't much point in taking it - at least not until a lot later. It does have the benefit of being a Mag 4 attack though, so it will immobilise bosses in one hit rather than the two hits (or domination) most other attacks will need. (Also remember that immobilises aren't subject to AV's toggle extreme status protection either so you will generally be able to perma-entangle an AV or Hero too which can be useful if they are prone to running when they get low on health). The damage is minimal so you are much better off getting another attack from your secondary if you are thinking of taking this for that aspect. One benefit this power does have for plant dominators is that it will bring down flying mobs so that your holds can take effect.
If you do pick this up you will only need the default slot with an accuracy.
Strangler (ranged, single target hold + small damage)
Available: level 1
Strangler is absolutely essential and you should pick this up at the very start. It is your primary means of holding enemies and due to its quick recharge you can use it many times in a fight. When you first get it you will have trouble holding bosses with it (you need to keep two holds overlapped to hold a boss) because the duration is a fair bit shorter than a controller single target hold. However if you slot it up properly you should have very few problems with bosses. When domination is active you should be able to hold any boss with one hit anyway. Later on you will be able to stack it with Vines if you want to lock down a boss very quickly. The only thing to watch out for is flying mobs - if they are too far from the ground then strangler won't have any effect other than its small damage. For this reason it is important to take a -fly power at some point to get around that problem. As mobs get close to the ground they will be 'sucked' down to earth and caught in the strangler.
I recommend 5-6 slotting this power and slotting 2 Acc, 2-3 Hold, 1-2 Recharge. I don't agree with slotting holds for damage - that's what your secondary is for. With the reduced durations of Dominator holds you really can't afford not to slot this heavily for hold duration. Although single target holds have a small inherent accuracy bonus, slotting 2 accuracies is a good idea anyway to ensure you hit those mobs with high defence (like Rikti drones or Arachnos Night Widows).
Roots (ranged, targetted AoE immobilise + small damage)
Available: level 2
Roots is basically the Area Effect version of entangle. The damage is less than entangle and it is only a Mag 3 attack so won't immobilise bosses in one hit. In my opinion it is quite a skippable power, or at least easily left until later on. Mass immobilises on their own are very dangerous to use - because they aggro everything they hit to you. However they can be useful when used in combination with other status effects which don't limit movement but which do mitigate damage (disorients, confuses, fears). Out of those we only have access to a confuse power (at least until much later), so Roots + Seeds of Confusion can be useful to stop the confused mobs running off - it also adds a small amount of damage to them to increase the XP share from confused mobs (although their are far better Area damage options in the secondary). If you take it you can get away with just 1-2 Accuracies or possibly an Immobilise duration - it recharges very fast anyway and is a decent base duration. Again, this power has a -fly component in area form which can make it attractive for getting a lot of fliers down to the ground so you can get your holds to take effect.
Spore Burst (ranged, targetted AoE sleep)
Available: level 6
Spore Burst is another take it or leave it power. If you want to maximise your control options then it is worth taking, but mainly as an 'emergency button'. Sleeps in general aren't terrific means of control since they are broken if the sleeping mobs are attacked. This shortcoming is usually overcome with a nice long duration or, in the case of Mind Control's Mass Hypnosis, by being non-aggro generating too. Spore Burst however enjoys neither of these luxuries - it is quite a short duration *and* causes aggro, despite causing no damage to the mobs. I only ever use it if things are getting a bit hectic and I need to buy a few seconds before Seeds of Confusion is recharged, or if I am facing mobs that are resistant to confuse and I'm waitign for Vines to come up. If you solo a lot then you could slot up Spore Burst to give half-decent duration, but to be honest I'd just try to manage another couple of levels till you can get your hands on a far more effective control tool. It recharges pretty fast anyway which is handy, and it can cause bubblers and sonic resonators problems in PvP since their dispersion powers have no protection from sleep.
Seeds of Confusion (cone confuse)
Available: level 8
This really is the gem of the set and is such a good control tool. It recharges fast, has good duration and has very few drawbacks - it's an excellent move to open a fight with as mobs generally won't get a chance to get a shot off at you before they are confused. Confused mobs will turn and fight each other instead of you and your team - meaning this is as good as a hold in many cases and often actually better (since your XP over time is increased with confused mobs helping to defeat each other). Although confused mobs can move normally, they actually tend to bunch up as they close in to fight each other, which ends up being very useful for us. They do sometimes tend to scatter a bit though as they run towards other groups, which although is no risk to you (attacks from confused mobs don't cause extra aggro), can be a bit annoying if you are trying to defeat them at the same time. For this reason Roots can be a useful follow-up to Seeds of Confusion as it both ensures the mobs stay fighting where they are, as well as applying a bit of extra area damage to ensure you get XP from all the mobs.
Confuse powers sometimes raise eyebrows because of the 'XP issue'; when a confused mob 'A' deals damage to another mob 'B', it detracts from the XP you (and your team) will earn from mob 'B'. The amount of detraction will depend on how much damage you and your team do to mob B in comparison to the damage done by the confused mob A. However, the crucial point is that only 25% of the damage that confused mobs deal is actually counted as far as sharing out XP is concerned, so you actually get proportionally more XP per amount of damage you are dealing when you are aided by confused mobs. If you do half the damage and Mob A does half, then you will get 80% of the xp, however if you let mob A do all the damage then you will get no XP at all. Of course this doesn't take into account that confused mobs are no threat to you and anything that prevents debt is a massive XP boost too! There is an excellent guide by cforce that goes into more detail on confusion. The bottom line is that in most practical situations, confusion actually increases XP gain over time - which is far more relevent than XP per mob in any real sense (remember that XP per mob goes down when you are in a team as well, but you will still level much faster in a team due to the increased speed with which you can take out mobs - the same principal applies for confuse).
Any Plant Dominator who doesn't take this power really is leaving themself *seriously* shortchanged in the control department. The only time you will have problems with this power are when you face mobs that are specifically resistant to confuse - that's basically Nemesis (who don't feature until much later in the game) and Longbow groups that have Longbow Officer bosses in them (they have an inherent leadership power which protects all their surrounding allies from confuse). In those cases you will need to rely on another form of control to lead off with. Dominated Seeds will overcome Nemesis, but they won't help against Longbow Officers - they will need to be defeated before you can confuse their minions.
The only tricky thing about this power is that it can get a bit of getting used to trying to line up a group of mobs to hit them all with the seeds. The cone is pretty large, but in order to hit a large group you will need to get quite close to the front of the group and target a mob towards the rear, or at least one in the middle of the group. For that reason you might want to consider taking Stealth from the Invisibility Pool as it will allow you to get much closer undetected. Unlike the Mind Control confuse powers, seeds does cause aggro on the group you use it against - however as a Dominator you will probably be wanting to get in there with your attacks anyway.
The power is pretty good straight away anyway, but I recommend 6 slotting it to make the absolute most of it. 2 Acc, 2 Confuse, 2 Recharge works very well for me - it is up for every fight and lasts pretty much the duration of the fight too. With Domination active you will be able to keep an entire group permanently confused (bosses may need holding just before you are ready to reapply confuse though just in case). It also works fine on flying mobs.
Spirit Tree (immobile summon, AoE +regen field)
Available: level 12
This is the first of the fairly unique powers in Plant Control that you wont find in any other dominator primary. It is operationally identical to Traps' Triage Beacon if you are familiar with that power. It is basically classed as a pet, although it doesn't move and can't be teleported, which doesn't really fit very well with the fairly dynamic style of gameplay you will probably end up using. You place it at a targetted location and any ally that comes close to it will gain a significant buff to their hitpoint regeneration rate. It's not a crowd control power by any means and can be quite easily skipped as long as you are able to do your job of controlling well enough - although it does look very cool. As /Psi dominators, we can get Drain Psyche which is a personal +Regen (and +End Recovery) power, which can be much better for us, but of course no use to team-mates.
If you do get this power it is best to slot it with Heals and/or Recharge, depending on how situational you are finding it.
Vines (ranged, targetted AoE hold)
Available: level 18
AoE holds aren't the be all and end all they used to be since their massive reduction in effectiveness in Issue 5. For Dominators this is even moreso, since their hold durations are even shorter than Controllers'. Nevertheless, I still think a well slotted AoE hold is a very useful tool in a dominator's arsenal - even a plant dominator who can get away with Seeds of Confusion for most of the time. When you come up against mobs that are resistant to confuse you will be in serious trouble without a solid backup like Vines. I guess that's the key distinction to make here - Vines will likely be a backup for you rather than a primary control tool - its recharge is just so long and the duration pretty short that it isn't really viable for using in every fight on a fulltime basis. Fortunately the times you will need to fallback on it aren't all that common, but when you do you will want it to be well slotted up.
It is still probably the safest means of opening a fight when Domination is active as it will lock down pretty much everything for a decent duration, and even without Domination it can be a good choice to lead off against a group with a boss or two as it makes it easier to lock the bosses down with Strangler as it puts a Mag 3 hold on everything straight away. I'd recommend 2 Acc, 2-3 Hold, 1-2 Rech. Vines has no effect on enemies that are flying so you will need to get them to the ground for the hold to take effect.
Carrion Creepers (pet summon, AoE slow, knockdown, immobilise + small damage over time)
Available: level 26
Carrion Creepers is a wonderful power, and a truly unique beast in the CoH/V world - and rather difficult to describe. When you cast it (by choosing a location like any other pet power - although this can be cast very far away), a patch of dark brambles spread out in a large patch on the ground to indicate the radius of the power. These brambles are actually just graphical 'icing' to show where the power was initially cast - the actual power is an invisible untargetable pet which will actually follow you around when the mobs you cast it near are defeated (you can see it following you if you summon it and then walk through some water somewhere as you see a second set of ripples moving close behind you) - it will even follow you up elevators and it flies too so can keep up with you wherever you go. This invisible entity has a large slow aura around it which will slow the movement of any mobs near it and also has a -fly, -jump component. This makes it a particualrly vicious weapon in PvP as opponents won't even be able to see that you effectively have a huge slow, -fly, -jump aura following you around which will then stick to them like glue.
The invisible pet summons 'subpets' of its own (the huge creeper vines which spring up out of the ground and last just a short while) which attack the mobs close by. It will try to summon a creeper vine for each nearby enemy, but it does an accuracy check to decide whether each summon is successful or not - so slotting accuracy in this power will mean you get more creeper vine spawns - very noticeable in large teams. These creeper vines use a damage over time attack and have a chance to knock down too. When an enemy is defeated within range of the pet, a small patch of immobilising roots sprouts up which will entangle any nearby mobs, together with another creeper vine which begins attacking any nearby enemies too.
One of the key features of the power is the creeper vine 'subpets' - since they are actual physical entities which can be attacked by the mobs, the patch and its creepers actually absorb aggro which can make it an excellent move to open with (especially for absorbing large and dangerous 'alpha strikes'), allowing you to then move in with seeds of confusion. The aggro isn't always assured though so beware of some stray shots coming your way. It can be cast from around corners and behind obstacles though which can add even more safety. Beware of the range of the pet though - it can summon creepers quite a long way away which can be a risk when trying to avoid aggroing extra nearby groups of mobs.
It does eventually expire and it also has a very long recharge, so you will want to slot it with 3 recharges at the very least. I would also recommend 1-2 accuracies and then perhaps damage if you have any slots left over. Immobilise and slows are only of limited use really since the creeper vines attract aggro anyway so mobs aren't likely to try and run away. If you PvP then slows are perhaps of more value.
Fly Trap (pet summon)
Available: level 32
For many controllers and dominators the pet is the ultimate power they are after - however that isn't really the case for us plant dominators. Our best powers are probably Seeds of Confusion and Carrion Creepers, although Fly Trap is certainly a welcome addition to our arsenal - and certainly fits the theme very well, scuttering around everywhere with its freaky sounds! It is basically a mini-Plant/Thorns dominator, but it isn't amazingly damaging or particularly good at control - it's more a jack of all trades that supplements your own control and damage. From Plant Control it just immobilises, and from Thorny Assault it has a couple of ranged attacks that debuff defence and do moderate damage. It also has a biting melee attack which does good damage. It spends most of its time at range however, often using subtle attacks that can be difficult to see.
If, like me, you have been used to stealthing around to set up your seeds of confusion attacks, you may be taken by surprise when Fly Trap starts attacking things before you are quite ready - it has considerable range so be careful when you are approaching a group and be ready to respond if it aggros a group. This can work in your favour though as it often opens with a cone thorn attack which debuffs defence, giving you a bonus to-hit with seeds of confusion (or whatever you are opening with), as well as distracting the mobs from you a short while.
Slotting it is fairly straight forward - just 1 Acc and 3 Dam is all it really needs. You might want to add some Defence Debuffs beyond that if you are looking to put slots somewhere later in your build.
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Psionic Assault
Psionic Assault is generally speaking lower damage than the other Dominator secondaries, although mobs rarely have defence against Psi damage, and Psi resistance is also generally rarer than resistance to other damage types. However mobs that are resistant to Psi are often pretty heavily resistant to it. Psi Assault does have some very nice benefits though. Most of the attacks are very low cost, the ranged attacks are very long range, and many of the attacks have a -recharge component which can really add up. It also has a very nice utility power, Drain Psyche, which can work very well with the Plant primary.
Psionic Dart (long ranged, single target minor psi damage, -recharge)
Available: level 1
You don't have a choice and have to get this power but that's not a problem as it's actually pretty useful. The damage is rather laughable, but it is an excellent way to help build domination as it is very fast and costs very little endurance - you can fit it in pretty much anywhere in an attack chain. Its long range also means it can be used as a pseudo-snipe in order to 'pull' if you are facing a large number of mobs and want to try and coax one of them away from the rest. No need to slot anything beyond the default slot though since it recharges so fast - just a single accuracy should do.
Mind Probe (melee ranged, single target high psi damage, -recharge, toggle dropping)
Available: level 2
This is your strongest attack for the majority of the game and don't let the melee aspect of it put you off - as a Plant primary you will be getting close to melee anyway and with all your control it will generally be pretty safe. It is also one of your only two means of dropping toggles in PvP.
Although it can be slotted with range, there is no point in doing so as it is so incredibly short ranged anyway. You are best off slotting 1-2 Acc, 3 Damage.
Telekinetic Thrust (melee ranged, single target minor psi/smash damage, knockback, -fly)
Available: level 4
This is another very short range attack but one that offers only fairly minor damage. The main use for this power is in its knockback and it also offers a pseudo -fly which is useful for us plant dominators. When you can't hold a boss in one hit, a knockback can give you a precious couple of seconds while strangler recharges to get that second hit in. It can also be useful to use immediately after a mind probe to knock a mob back out of harms way. For flying mobs, TK thrust will knock the target back, and down to the ground - helpful for being able to hold a mob that would otherwise be inaccessible. Of course that assumes you have a means of getting close to the flying mob in the first place. Entangle and Roots in the primary have a more efficient -fly that works from range.
With ragdoll physics knockback can be tremendous fun which is a tick in the box for this power - I personally rather like it, but it is fairly skipable given the other -fly options available to you. Also, the plant immobilises have an anti-knockback component that means this power is all but useless against mobs that are rooted - and when you get the Fly Trap it will tend to spam immobilises everywhere meaning this power loses a lot of utility later on in your career, so it might be one to respec out later on. Just the default slot is fine, into which you can just put an Accuracy.
Mental Blast (ranged, single target moderate psi damage, -recharge)
Available: level 10
This is a power that is generally shunned, mainly because it offers relatively poor damage compared to the other single target attacks in the set, and has no significant benefits besides damage (the -recharge is replicated in several other powers in the set, and -recharge is of only limited use when most mobs will be held or confused anyway). Mind Probe is significantly better damage and already available, even though it is melee. Subdue is also much better damage and ranged, although it is quite a way off at 28. It could be worth picking this up as a second single target damage dealer and then respeccing out of it when Subdue comes along, but you can just as easily skip it altogether. If you do get it, slot a basic 1 Acc, 3 Damage.
Psychic Scream (cone moderate psi damage)
Available: level 16
This is the first significant Area Damage power we have access to - and it's pretty decent. The damage isn't astounding, but against several foes it certainly adds up. Its cone nature makes it a handy follow-up to Seeds of Confusion, although the cone of Psychic Scream is a bit narrower than Seeds, so you may want to jump back a bit between using Seeds and Scream. The clustering effect that Seeds has actually works quite well in this respect as mobs tend to close in together making it easier to hit more fo them with Psychic Scream.
I'd recommend slotting 1-2 Acc, 3 Dam and possibly a recharge or two.
Drain Psyche (small PBAoE, Foe -Regen -End Recov, Self +Regen +End Recov)
Available: level 20
Drain Psyche is a small PBAoE attack which deals no damage, but instead transfers hitpoint regeneration and endurance recovery from the nearby mobs it hits to you - the more mobs it hits, the better the regen and recovery given to you. Hitting 3 mobs is like having Empathy's Recovery Aura on you, and hitting anymore than that gives you an incredible +Regen and +Recov. The effect lasts about 30 seconds and the base recharge is about 2 minutes. So with 3 Recharge SOs it won't be perma, but it doesn't really need to be.
Drain Psyche should be a really good power for any Dominator primary (and for Plant dominators it still is), however it currently has a bit of a problem which makes it a little unfriendly for the user. The problem is that it doesn't accept accuracy enhancements and that it has a relatively poor base accuracy. Against even level mobs it is ok, but anything +2 or higher will see it missing a lot. For most dominators soloing or in small teams it will be difficult to get in range of more than 2 mobs when firing Drain Psyche off, which may often result in only 1 hit or even missing both altogether. This is where the plant primary comes in, and Seeds of Confusion in particular. Using seeds of confusion tends to cluster mobs together, and this makes it much easier to get more mobs in range when firing Drain Psyche off. Being near 3 or 4 mobs becomes much easier and so missing altogether is much rarer and you will generally be hitting at least 2 mobs which should give you a perfectly good recovery rate. That said you may still have problems against higher level mobs and so taking Tactics from the leadership pool is recommended (especially as it helps all your other attacks, pets and creepers as well). If you can hit enough mobs regularly enough you can afford to completely bypass the fitness pool. In large teams the accuracy of Drain Psyche becomes much less of a problem due to the size of the spawns of mobs - there will generally be so many around that you are bound to hit plenty to keep Drain Psyche topping you up.
I recommend slotting 3 recharge and 3 endurance modifiers at the moment - this ensures that even hitting 1 or 2 mobs still gives a pretty good endurance recovery rate. I view the hitpoint regeneration as more of an added bonus. If the Devs fix the power to accept accuracy enhancers (which apparently they are looking into), then I would recommend 3 recharge, 1-2 accuracy, 1-2 end mod.
Subdue (long ranged, single target high psi damage, chance to immobilise)
Available: level 28
Subdue is a very nice ranged attack which is almost as long range as Psionic Dart and almost as much damage as Mind Probe. It doesn't have a -recharge component but it does have a chance to apply a Mag 3 immobilise to the target (or Mag 6 if Domination is active of course). I definitely recommend this power as it can be very useful for occasions when getting close to the target is difficult and the added immobilise chance can be a useful extra too if something is trying to run away. I recommend 1 Acc, 3 Damage.
Psionic Lance (snipe ranged, single target very high psi damage, -recharge)
Available: level 35
The snipe is, unsurprisingly, the strongest attack available in the Psi Assault secondary. However personally I'm not that keen on it. Aside from this power, the Plant/Psi combo plays pretty fast - tight attack chains, lots of mobility, rapid build-up of the domination bar. Psionic Lance, although a strong attack, takes a long time to fire, can be interrupted, and basically slows down your whole gameplay. There are also only few times when a snipe attack like this would be particularly useful anyway - it's not enough to one-shot things and most of the time a full on assault with your other powers is the best way forward. I thought it was just too slow for the rest of my gameplay so I just skipped it (although I tried it on test) - I just don't see it being a particularly useful power for a Dominator. If you do take it then 1 Acc, 3 Damage is probably best with maybe an interrupt time reducer or two so you can get away with using it in the middle of combat without being interrupted (it won't help with the animation time though so it will still eat up a lot of time in an attack chain).
Psychic Shockwave (very large PBAoE, high psi damage, -recharge, chance to disorient, toggle dropping)
Available: level 38
This is the power that really turns things around for the Psi Secondary - it goes from being one of the weakest assault sets, to being right up there with the rest of them. The Area Effect of this power is really big - you will be constantly amazed at how many mobs you are hitting with it (about the same sort of area as Vines can cover). The damage this power deals is a bit more than Mind Probe which makes it a devestating AoE attack. The animation is extremely fast, the base recharge is 10 seconds, and the endurance cost is low too (it's not a blaster nuke with associated end recovery penalty). As if that wasn't enough, it also applies a -recharge to mobs and also has a chance to disorient them. In PvP it also has a chance to drop multiple toggles (this is one of only two /Psi attacks which can drop toggles).
Get it, 6 slot it - I recommend 1-2 Acc, 3 Damage, 1-2 Recharge.
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Standard Pool Powers
You can choose from a maximum of four of them and actually Fitness and Speed aren't absolutely necessary for a Plant/Psi. Leadership can be very handy (tactics will help with all your tohit powers - including Drain Psyche), and you'll be wanting a travel power too. Concealment's Stealth is also useful for getting into position for seeds of confusion.
Concealment - This is a handy power pool to take - Stealth is useful for getting a bit closer to mobs for Seeds of Confusion, but it does slow you down and isn't perfect Invisibility. You can combine it with SuperSpeed though to be able to get rigth up close to mobs. Grant Invisibility can be handy but personally I don't like buffing as a Dominator - my job is to cause mayhem
Fighting - Since everything should really be under control anyway before we get close to melee, the fighting pool should really be totally unnecessary - we have much better single target attacks in our secondary anyway. We will probably get some sort of armor in an Ancillary Pool at some point anyway if need be.
Fitness - This old chestnut. Traditionally fitness (stamina in particular) has been recommended for nearly all characters in CoH. Endurance is a commodity in short supply and as soon as you go all guns blazing that blue bar starts shrinking fast - even moreso if you are running toggles. In /Psi we have Drain Psyche however, which if it hits makes Stamina completely skippable. The trick of course being that it might not always hit - especially with it being unable to take accuracy. It's up to you of course but in the balance of things I've found myself being very effective without Stamina - I don't really miss it at all.
Flight - Flight is a very nice travel power in City of Villains since so many of the zones are huge and being able to sit back and relax as you cross a zone is rather handy - fly is by far the safest travel power. You also get to admire all the nice artwork from the skies. The downside of course is that it is the slowest travel power, so crossing those zones takes much longer. Taking Fly also means you could take Air Superiority for the -fly which helps us hold fliers.
Leadership - Ahhh - tactics, sweet tactics. This is a great pool for you to take. Tactics gives you a tohit bonus on all your powers, which is a very valuable boost to ensure you get those hits in on the nastier mobs (which of course is when it's likely to be most important). It is currently the only way you can enhance the tohit chance of Drain Psyche (besided yellow inspirations). ToHit buffs work slightly differently from Accuracy Enhancers and are particularly effective when used against mobs with high defence or if something is debuffing your own tohit. It also benefits all your team-mates and of course their pets, meaning they will miss far less often. It also provides protection from confuse (very useful against Circle of Thorn Succubus bosses) and also increases perception (allowing you to see stealthed/invised characters from further away and counteracting -perception attacks like Arachnos Night Widow smoke grenades). I recommend slotting 1 End Redux and 3 ToHit Buffs in Tactics. In order to get tactics however, you need to take at least one of assault or manoeuvres. Assault gives a moderate damage boost to all your powers (and those of your teammates) and also provides taunt resistance which can be useful for PvP. Manoeuvres provides a small defence bonus for everyone which could be tempting, but the base amount is so low since Issue 5 it is barely worth running. Vengeance is an extremely nice buff to everyone's accuracy, damage, defence and also gives status protection, but of course only useful if you haven't been doing your job properly and one of your team-mates has been defeated
Leaping - Leaping can be a nice pool to take for the Plant/Psi since we are likely to be getting into melee a bit and we can get immobilise and knockback protection from this pool (Combat Jumping and Acrobatics respectively). Acrobatics also gives a small degree of protection from holds. Superjump is one of the faster means of travel but you need to keep your eye out when travelling through dangerous zones as it offers no stealth bonus so landing in a bunch of angry mobs is not advisable.
Medicine - A possibility for a Plant/Psi who is looking to bring more to a team. The self heal isn't quite so useful since Drain Psyche can give you impressive regeneration if it hits enough people, but Stimulant is a nice status protection and Aid Other / Resuscitate can obviously be useful. If you are doing a good job with your primary though then none of this pool shuold be necessary of course!
Presence - Very unlikely to be useful unless you are wanting to go for a particular concept build involving fear powers. We are too squishy for provoking things to be a good idea, and our primary controls are far better than the meagre fears this pool offers.
Speed - Traditionally I have always taken Hasten on my characters as it is such an incredibly good buff (a massive reduction in recharge times on all powers) - especially on Controllers with all their long recharges. Since ED however, and Hasten no longer being perma, I've found the difference between a Hastened and non-Hastened build to be not as great. Thanks to the fast recharge time of Seeds of Confusion a Plant/Psi can actually get along just fine without Hasten. With it of course, you will be even more devestating. If taking it then just slot 3 Recharges - anything more is a waste. Superspeed has a stealth bonus in PvE which can stack with Stealth from the Concealment pool, allowing you to get much closer for Seeds of Confusion and to travel in almost total safety around zones.
Teleportation - Teleportation can be the fastest method of travel when it is slotted up and so can be very handy for crossing large zones - your slower team-members will love you if you also have Recall Friend to bring them to a mission door on the other side of the map once you get there. Teleport Foe isn't really of much use for a Plant/Psi except in PvP - it's another power that tends to slow you down a fair bit.
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My Build
I really only include this as an example of how a Plant/Psi can be built - it is by no means a min/maxed build, it is simply how mine suits my gameplay. I have a few extra control options which could probably be ditched for more pool powers if needed (Spore Burst and Roots for example). I also have TK thrust which could be easily skipped or respecced out in favour of something else at higher level (there's just not much else I'd prefer at the moment so I'm saving my repsecs!). I have found that I can run Assault, Tactics and Stealth just fine without stamina since the extra tohit from tactics helps me hit enough mobs with Drain Psyche most of the time. I occasionally miss altogether with it but it's fairly uncommon - and nothing that carrying a couple of blue end insps doesn't solve.
This is pretty much my build as it is now at level 40 (there are a couple of slotting differences - hindsight is a wonderful thing - but they are so minor I can't be bothered to waste a respec to shuffle a couple of slots).
Level 1 Strangler - Acc (L1) Acc (L3) Hold (L5) Hold (L7) Rech (L13) Rech (L36)
Level 1 Psionic Dart - Acc (L1)
Level 2 Mind Probe - Acc (L2) Dam (L3) Dam (L5) Dam (L7)
Level 4 Telekinetic Thrust - Acc (L4)
Level 6 Spore Burst - Acc (L6)
Level 8 Seeds of Confusion - Acc (L8) Acc (L9) Conf (L9) Conf (L11) Rech (L11) Rech (L13)
Level 10 Hover - DefBuf (L10)
Level 12 Stealth - EndRdx (L12)
Level 14 Fly - EndRdx (L14) Fly (L15) Fly (L15) Fly (L37)
Level 16 Psychic Scream - Acc (L16) Acc (L17) Dam (L17) Dam (L19) Dam (L21)
Level 18 Vines - Acc (L18) Acc (L19) Hold (L23) Hold (L23) Rech (L25) Rech (L27)
Level 20 Drain Psyche - Rech (L20) Rech (L21) Rech (L25) EndMod (L31) EndMod (L36) EndMod (L36)
Level 22 Assault - EndRdx (L22)
Level 24 Tactics - EndRdx (L24) ToHit (L34) ToHit (L34) ToHit (L34)
Level 26 Carrion Creepers - Acc (L26) Rech (L27) Rech (L31) Rech (L37) Acc (L37)
Level 28 Subdue - Acc (L28) Dam (L29) Dam (L29) Dam (L31)
Level 30 Roots - Acc (L30)
Level 32 Fly Trap - Acc (L32) Dam (L33) Dam (L33) Dam (L33) DefDeb (L40)
Level 35 Vengeance - Range (L35)
Level 38 Psychic Shockwave - Acc (L38) Dam (L39) Dam (L39) Dam (L39) Rech (L40) Rech (L40)
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Summary
Plant/Psi is great for the team player. Large teams are where you will really excel since you can offer lots of control and drain psyche works best when faced with lots of mobs to give you a huge +regen and +recov boost. The damage in Psi is reasonable for most of your career and then really hits the big time as you approach 40 and have Psi Shockwave nicely slotted up.
Hope you find this guide useful and have fun with your Plant/Psi!