Still leveling my plant/thorn but what little I know includes:
seeds of confusion
get it as early as possible.
slot it. love it.
carrion creepers
get it as early as possible.
much fun. very useful.
City of Heroes was my first MMO, & my favorite computer game.
R.I.P.
Chyll - Bydand - Violynce - Enyrgos - Rylle - Nephryte - Solyd - Fettyr - Hyposhock - Styrling - Beryllos - Rosyc
Horryd - Myriam - Dysquiet - Ghyr
Vanysh - Eldrytch
Inflyct - Mysron - Orphyn - Dysmay - Reapyr - - Wyldeman - Hydeous
Strengths:
-Seeds of Confusion, especially at such a low lvl
-Defense Debuff and Aim, so you'll rarely miss
-Pretty good AoE
-Plenty of Distractions from both seeds and creepers keeping the attention off you
-Visually appealing and easily recognizable
-Tons of DoT to interupt your target, alot of it being toxic
Weaknesses:
-Long thorns animations, can be troublesome
-While the holds may look cool, the animations are kinda long, and they only affect targets on/near the ground
-Spirit Tree being immobile
-Lethal damage, which is heavily resisted (Achilles heel and damage procs are your friend!)
Kill speed with thorns can be decent with the help of aim and seeds, but as always, if you can afford it, IO up. Perma dom has changed, but you don't need me to tell you what all that recharge will do to your damage output, and the end refill should help with any endurance guzzling.
PS. slot your fly trap with damage procs/achilles heel, you won't regret it.
Don't bother with Roots. It's helpful for controllers to create containment, but on a dominator it's pretty useless. You definitely need Strangler, Seeds, Creepers, and Flytrap. Vines and Spore Burst are useful "oh crap" powers.
Plant/Thorn is a great combo. Mine is at lvl 45 now. The lethal resistance in the higher levels can be a pain, but the two sets complement each other well and with Seeds, Creepers, and Flytrap you can breeze through mishes at the highest difficulty setting.
Thanks for the help. Another thing i was wondering about, are doms really not that powerful without domination on? I'm pretty new to them, so is it like okay i suck for a while then own? Also, is spirit tree a good power to use even though its immobile? And lastly, what are the more useful thorns powers for plant/? Are they the ranged ones of the melee ones?
It also seems like thorntrops and carrion creepers with roots could do a lot of damage
Doms require a very unique "blapper" type of playstyle. You'll constantly be moving in and out of melee range. Though with Plant/Thorns I find it best to lay out solid Aoe Control first (seeds of confusion) and then go in with my hevay hitting melee attacks.
Plant/Thorn is one of the safest dom set out there. Especially after you get seeds. I'm not a fan of the immobilizes, they set up containment for controllers, but in general they don't do that much for doms. Except get you huge amount of aggro. However, casting the immobilize after you cast seeds isn't a bad thing. That can work out well...and add to the damage you're doing to the mobs.
My level 50 Dominators:
Madame Mindbender 50 Mind/Energy
Fly Agaric 50 Plant/Thorn
Nate Nitro 50 Fire/Psi
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Doms require a very unique "blapper" type of playstyle. You'll constantly be moving in and out of melee range.
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I don't know that I'd agree with that. Time moving in and out of melee is time when you could be simply standing and firing more ranged attacks. The times when you should be using your melee attacks is when your target is a boss or bigger. The rest of the time, stand off and burn, you'll drop your targets faster. The numbers may be smaller, but the results are better, and you spend the fight in more safety.
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I'm not a fan of the immobilizes, they set up containment for controllers, but in general they don't do that much for doms.
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Again, allow me to present a counter-argument. 5 pieces of Positron's Blast, plus the Trap of the Hunter proc give you two procs, a nice chunk of global recharge and a quick recharging attack with a huge area and a 16 target limit. Solo, aggro is a non-issue, you've got it anyway. Grouped, wait for someone else to draw the alpha, and apply your controls to anyone who's unengaged. Immobilizes are great in groups. Immobilized mobs don't get loose and splat your squishies. They stand helplessly and melt in burn patches. And Plant's AOE immob actually has respectable damage output in its own right, independent of procs.
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I'm not a fan of the immobilizes, they set up containment for controllers, but in general they don't do that much for doms.
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Again, allow me to present a counter-argument. 5 pieces of Positron's Blast, plus the Trap of the Hunter proc give you two procs, a nice chunk of global recharge and a quick recharging attack with a huge area and a 16 target limit. Solo, aggro is a non-issue, you've got it anyway. Grouped, wait for someone else to draw the alpha, and apply your controls to anyone who's unengaged. Immobilizes are great in groups. Immobilized mobs don't get loose and splat your squishies. They stand helplessly and melt in burn patches. And Plant's AOE immob actually has respectable damage output in its own right, independent of procs.
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This is true, for the most part, at least for plant's immob. Doing twice the damage of the rest of them makes it a pretty good attack, not to mention the synergy between it and seeds in that it prevents a confused mob from running off after a different spawn. The rest of them, though, I'm not as sold on, mostly because of the very low damage. If you've got another control power that works with it, such as an AoE stun, it can be useful, but by themselves I've found them mostly to be a good way to get dead on a team. If you take it, have a specific role in mind (whether damage for plant, stun control for grav/earth/fire, whatever) and don't just spam it for no reason.
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Doms require a very unique "blapper" type of playstyle. You'll constantly be moving in and out of melee range.
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I don't know that I'd agree with that. Time moving in and out of melee is time when you could be simply standing and firing more ranged attacks. The times when you should be using your melee attacks is when your target is a boss or bigger. The rest of the time, stand off and burn, you'll drop your targets faster. The numbers may be smaller, but the results are better, and you spend the fight in more safety.
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This, however, I completely disagree with. Not only do melee attacks often have a higher damage scale than ranged ones, the dom's melee multiplier is higher than their range. By not taking or using them, you are leaving a large chunk of damage on the table. The other issue is that, without melee attacks many sets have trouble building a complete attack chain, at least not without large amounts of global recharge. Given the recharge increases to /fire, about the only set where I think you can realistically get away with all range nowadays is energy, unless you have single target attacks in your primary like grav/ or mind/. So, skip the melees and you'll still likely have times where you're not doing damage. And you don't actually need to jump in and out of melee and waste time unless you're trying to line up a narrow ranged cone - ranged attacks work perfectly well in melee, after all, and the target you're attacking should be locked down anyway so you don't have to run out of melee to stay safe (and dom HP are low enough anyway that if your enemy slips your controls, you're quite possibly screwed even if you're at range).
And all of that goes double for /thorn, which has some really nice melee and short range attacks. If you're hanging out at 40 feet, you can't use lunge, fling spines, thorn burst, or ripper - which includes *all* of your AoEs. If you wanted to live in complete safety, this is the wrong AT. You can lock down everything, but one slip and you're in a world of hurt. This is an AT which lives on the edge. If you're not one mistake away from becoming a greasy stain on the nearest wall, you're not pushing yourself hard enough. Take the melee attacks. Embrace your inner blapper. Come to the dark side - we have cookies. 
@MuonNeutrino
Student, Gamer, Altaholic, and future Astronomer.
This is what it means to be a tank!
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Not only do melee attacks often have a higher damage scale than ranged ones, the dom's melee multiplier is higher than their range.
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True, but the delta in damage per activation drops off sharply when you're blowing seconds moving between mobs. In the time it takes you to move to a minion and dispatch him with bone smasher, you can power bolt and power blast for equivalent damage. Don't get mesmerized by size of the orange numbers, it's only their sum that counts.
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The other issue is that, without melee attacks many sets have trouble building a complete attack chain, at least not without large amounts of global recharge.
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The LAST thing any dom needs to worry about is a lack of things to do with an attack chain. The whole reason the Dom buffs were so glorious was that in addition to boosting the raw damage output of the AT, the devs increased the DPA of Dom secondaries so you can get more bang in your attack chain.
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Take the melee attacks.
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At no point do I suggest that a dom NOT take their melee attacks, just understand that moving 'in and out of melee' is not necessarily optimal behavior. Take your melee attacks, but use them intelligently. Crossing the room to swat a minion with Skewer is a waste of time. Moving into melee against uncontrolled targets is begging for a trip in the meatwagon.
I'm level 26 as of now, and so far from thorn I have darts, fling thorns, impale, skewer, and thorn burst. It has made the experience easier, and more fun, moving in and out of melee. I wouldn't cross the room to hit skewer, but if I'm attacking something that's held, and ranged powers are recharging, it's easier to run in and use skewer. Is impale a good power to have from thorns? It has pretty okay damage, and the activation time is long, but not awful. I find the AoE immobilize works very well with carrion creepers. I know the creepers slow them down, but that doesn't stop them from running out of the way, which lowers the damage in the long run. Is it necessary to take all of the /thorn powers besides maybe thorntrops? (which I am taking anyway, but respeccing if I don't like it). Also, let me just say, seeds of confusion is GOD! 
(Also from my original post, what patron goes well with plant/thorn?)
From what I know of the set, there aren't any *huge* stinkers. Thorntrops strikes me as probably skippable, but I don't have any firsthand experience with it (I would if the visuals and animations weren't so fugly 
). For plant, on the other hand, you can definitely skip both spirit tree and spore burst. Skip just one more power between the two sets and you've got the empty slots to fit in stamina and a travel power without pushing stuff into the 40s.
@MuonNeutrino
Student, Gamer, Altaholic, and future Astronomer.
This is what it means to be a tank!
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Doms require a very unique "blapper" type of playstyle. You'll constantly be moving in and out of melee range. Though with Plant/Thorns I find it best to lay out solid Aoe Control first (seeds of confusion) and then go in with my hevay hitting melee attacks.
Plant/Thorn is one of the safest dom set out there. Especially after you get seeds. I'm not a fan of the immobilizes, they set up containment for controllers, but in general they don't do that much for doms. Except get you huge amount of aggro. However, casting the immobilize after you cast seeds isn't a bad thing. That can work out well...and add to the damage you're doing to the mobs.
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My Plant/Thorns dinged 26 last night, and this very much sums up my experience thus far. Lead with Seeds, follow with Roots, then use the Thorns attacks. Definitely have a blapper mentality.
I'm not so down on the immobs though - between Roots/Carrion Creepers/Thorntrops, I'm planning on keeping mobs right where I want them, sucking them try*.
*well...and *eventually* getting them wet too, as I plan on getting Water Spout
Suggestions:
Super Packs Done Right
Influence Sink: IO Level Mod/Recrafting
Random Merit Rolls: Scale cost by Toon Level
Hey all, this is a build I came up with for now, wasn't quite sure about carrion creepers slotting, along with a few other powers. (Go ahead and critique away) 
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]
Level 50 Magic Dominator
Primary Power Set: Plant Control
Secondary Power Set: Thorny Assault
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Leviathan Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Strangler <ul type="square">[*] (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold: Level 30[*] (3) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold: Level 30[*] (3) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 30[*] (5) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 30[*] (5) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[/list]Level 1: Thorny Darts <ul type="square">[*] (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50[*] (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance: Level 50[*] (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (45) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (46) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50[/list]Level 2: Roots <ul type="square">[*] (A) Trap of the Hunter - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50[*] (9) Trap of the Hunter - Endurance/Immobilize: Level 50[*] (9) Trap of the Hunter - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50[/list]Level 4: Fling Thorns <ul type="square">[*] (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50[*] (11) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance: Level 50[*] (11) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (13) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50[*] (13) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range: Level 50[/list]Level 6: Swift <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 8: Seeds of Confusion <ul type="square">[*] (A) Coercive Persuasion - Confused: Level 50[*] (15) Coercive Persuasion - Confused/Recharge: Level 50[*] (15) Coercive Persuasion - Accuracy/Confused/Recharge: Level 50[*] (17) Coercive Persuasion - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50[*] (17) Coercive Persuasion - Confused/Endurance: Level 50[/list]Level 10: Impale <ul type="square">[*] (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage: Level 40[*] (19) Decimation - Damage/Endurance: Level 40[*] (19) Decimation - Damage/Recharge: Level 40[*] (21) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 40[*] (46) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 40[/list]Level 12: Hasten <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (21) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (23) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 14: Skewer <ul type="square">[*] (A) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50[*] (23) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance: Level 50[*] (25) Crushing Impact - Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (25) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (27) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50[/list]Level 16: Super Speed <ul type="square">[*] (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50[/list]Level 18: Vines <ul type="square">[*] (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold: Level 30[*] (27) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 30[*] (29) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold: Level 30[*] (29) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 30[*] (31) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 30[/list]Level 20: Health <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 22: Stamina <ul type="square">[*] (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod: Level 50[*] (31) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy: Level 50[*] (31) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End: Level 50[/list]Level 24: Thorn Burst <ul type="square">[*] (A) Obliteration - Damage: Level 50[*] (33) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50[*] (33) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (33) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (34) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50[/list]Level 26: Carrion Creepers <ul type="square">[*] (A) Tempered Readiness - Accuracy/Slow: Level 50[*] (34) Tempered Readiness - Damage/Slow: Level 50[*] (34) Tempered Readiness - Accuracy/Endurance: Level 50[*] (36) Tempered Readiness - Range/Slow: Level 50[*] (36) Tempered Readiness - Accuracy/Damage/Slow: Level 50[/list]Level 28: Aim <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (36) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (37) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 30: Thorntrops <ul type="square">[*] (A) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[*] (37) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[*] (37) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 32: Fly Trap <ul type="square">[*] (A) Sovereign Right - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50[*] (39) Sovereign Right - Damage/Endurance: Level 50[*] (39) Sovereign Right - Accuracy/Endurance: Level 50[*] (39) Sovereign Right - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50[*] (40) Sovereign Right - Resistance Bonus: Level 50[/list]Level 35: Ripper <ul type="square">[*] (A) Obliteration - Damage: Level 50[*] (40) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50[*] (40) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (42) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (42) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50[/list]Level 38: Thorn Barrage <ul type="square">[*] (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage: Level 40[*] (42) Decimation - Damage/Endurance: Level 40[*] (43) Decimation - Damage/Recharge: Level 40[*] (43) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 40[*] (43) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 40[/list]Level 41: Water Spout <ul type="square">[*] (A) Knockback Distance IO: Level 50[*] (45) Disorient Duration IO: Level 50[*] (45) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 44: Hibernate <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (46) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 47: Shark Skin <ul type="square">[*] (A) Impervious Skin - Resistance/Endurance: Level 30[*] (48) Impervious Skin - Resistance/Recharge: Level 30[*] (48) Impervious Skin - Endurance/Recharge: Level 30[*] (48) Impervious Skin - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge: Level 30[*] (50) Impervious Skin - Status Resistance: Level 30[/list]Level 49: Summon Coralax <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (50) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (50) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[/list]------------
Level 1: Brawl <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Sprint <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 2: Rest <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Domination
Hey everyone,
I recently rolled a plant/thorn dom just because it was one of my first villains, and decided to retry it. I was wondering what are the strengths? weaknesses? I've heard that they have lots of synergy together. By strengths i mean does it do a lot of damage? survivable?
Also, I wanted to know what the essential powers are. I would guess strangler, roots, seeds of confusion, vines, carrion creepers, and fly trap for plant. I wouldn't know about thorns though. Lastly, what patron pool goes well with it? Thanks in advance!