Gaea's Avenger's Guide to being a Force of Nature

Welcome to my guide about the i12 Plant/Storm controller. I started playing a Plant/Storm as the powers looked great fun, the build was thematically very tight, and there didn't seem to be a guide. The first two were true, and I'm fixing the third. Note that Gaea's Avenger was my first character to pass level 30, and still isn't level 50. So there may be mistakes in this guide caused by inexperience. If so, I apologise and point them out for me please. And now onto the meat of the guide.

Plant/Storm overview

A Plant/Storm controller is a very high damage output controller across a wide area (it's right up there with Fire/Kin, and also has excellent soft controls). On the other hand, almost all its damage is either AoE, inflicted by pets who aren't under your direct control, or both. High damage and damage in random directions both fits the theme of a barely controlled force of nature and leads to you taking a huge amount of aggro (probably higher than that of an AoE focussed blaster). If you like to have your damage out of control (but not as badly out of control as the mobs will be), and don't mind faceplanting fairly regularly (or are a far better player than I am), and enjoy visual and visceral powersets then this may be a controller for you.

If you like things locked down nice and tight, and hate trips to the hospital then you may want to look elsewhere. Also this is a hard combination to solo before L32 and Audrey (the flytrap) turns up. Note that the damage numbers are small, but there are huge numbers of them so the total damage output is very high (as I shall ilustrate)

One note on slotting: Frankenslot means pick the best bonuses you can find from any sets that will fit the power – and ignore the set bonusses.

Power overviews:

Rating system:
- this power is a turkey. Ignore it.
- weak power. I didn't take it or want to.
- not bad. Not great but you probably want it.
- very good. Useful and good value.
– Outstanding. You'd be a fool not to take it, and it's borderline gamebreaking.

Plant Control overview

Entangle
Ranged, Foe Immobilize

It's a single target AoE Immobilise. Does controller damage and only affects one target. The only reason I can think of to take it in preference to other powers is if you want to do a lot of soloing. It's one of the few skippable powers in the set, so I skipped it.

Rating

SO Slotting: 2 acc / 2 damage/ 2 recharge

Personal slotting: did not take this power

Strangler
Ranged, Foe Hold

Single target foe hold. More or less a match for the other controller single target holds – and far more useful as a L1 power than Entangle. Before L32 I slotted it for recharge and damage – and relied on throwing it fast enough to hold hold resistant bosses while damaging them when soloing. That was painful to solo at low levels. The 1.2 accuracy in this power really helps.

SO Slotting pre-32: 1 acc / 2 dam / 3 recharge (post-32, replace the dam with hold)
IO Slotting: Frankenslotting with heavy recharge.

Rating:


Roots

Ranged (Targeted AoE), Foe Immobilize

This power is spectacularly good and draws an amazing amount of aggro. To see why, we'll use numbers from Red Tomax' City of Data.

Compared to other controller AoE Immobilise powers it's on a damage scale of 0.6. All other AoE immobs are on a scale of 0.3 (or 0.33 for fire). So it does twice the damage of any of them. Now for a tougher comparison.
At L50, total damage for Contained Roots (and remember it's self-containing) is 2*3*3.06 + 3*6.12 = 36.72 damage in 9.67 seconds = 3.8 damage per second. (6.47 damage per second with 100% recharge)
An equivalent Blaster power would probably be Ball Lightning from the Electricity set. Which (unslotted) does 18.77 +4*11.26 damage for a total of 63.81 damage on a 17.07 second damage cycle = 3.7 damage per second. (7.04 damage/second with 100% recharge).

Yes, properly slotted the blaster does do more damage (I've cancelled the accuracy of the blaster with the much higher area roots covers and the more use for procs as you get a better casting time, and if you do the same to damage on both sides it cancels). But think about that for a second. This AoE damage power is competitive with the AoE damage output of a blaster spamming his AoE, and both of you heavily slotted. (And to anyone pointing out Aim and Build Up, I'll take Controller buffs/debuffs as they affect the whole team) It's no wonder the mobs absolutely hate you (especially as you are immobilising them for good measure). And be careful – with the high radius of roots not only will the mobs hate you but you could grab another spawn by mistake.

Note that Roots will only affect people who aren't flying. Such a pity there isn't a convenient snowstorm to bring flyers back down to earth... (It also is both easy to spot and doesn't completely block LoS unlike earth's Stone Cages).

SO Slotting: 2 accuracy / 2 damage / 2 recharges

Personal slotting: Frankenslot this power (I've got a proc in here and still massively high bonusses). It can do with the love and will reward you with massive damage output. Ignore set bonusses until really high levels. (Note that roots has a wider range of possible frankenslotting than blaster powers because it will also take acc, rec, end, and procs from immobilise powers. It also negates knockdowns and knockbacks – which isn't a problem while the mobs are beating each other up (see Seeds of Confusion for why this will happen).




Spore Burst
Ranged (Targeted AoE), Foe Sleep

AoE sleep. Either you like them or you don't. I didn't take it and haven't missed it. And I wouldn't trust my storm powers not to wake everyone up by mistake. On the other hand, earth/storm controllers who focus on multiple spawn control IME take this. I've gone for the damage – but if you want more control then this power is well worth looking at.

Slotting: Go straight for the sets. They are cheap enough.

Personal slotting: did not take this power
Rating: Unrated.

Seeds of Confusion.
Ranged (Cone), Foe Confuse

Absolutely wonderful power. A Mag 3 cone confuse. Negates almost all of the aggro from roots (and strangler can hold a boss off) and convinces them to damage each other while you are rooting them to death. Does a fair amount of damage, an amazing amount of damage mitigation (doesn't take much to make it perma), and contrary to a common myth speeds up Exp as you are killing faster and don't lose that much exp per mob.

About all that would make this power better is if you had a debuff for mob resistance and defence that didn't affect their damage output. Oh, hi there, Freezing Rain. And they don't even flop about once rooted?

Slotting: 2 Acc / 1 Recharge / 1 Confuse as a minimum. IOs are cheap enough that you probably want to look at set bonusses, and even Purples only went for half a million each last time I looked.

Personal slotting: 4 befuddling, 2 of something else. Set bonusses are definitely worthwhile, and when I get high enough the Contagious Confusion is going to be outstanding when I'm confusing a dozen or more mobs at a time.

Rating (and probably more)

Spirit Tree
PBAoE Heal

+Regen over a wide area. It's rooted in place and doesn't move with you – I haven't taken this power because in groups I get through the mobs too fast and when soloing either the mobs are controlled or they get through me. The weakest power in the set.

Personal slotting: not used.

Rating

Vines
Ranged (Targeted AoE), Foe Hold

Bog standard targetted AoE hold. Useful for locking down bosses fast (Strangler + Vines = Mag 6 with a chance of 7 and only the casting times) or as a panic button.

SO Slotting: 2 Acc/2 Hold/2Recharge

Personal slotting: Franken for Acc, Hold, and a splash of Recharge – not using many slots.
Rating:

Carrion Creepers
Ranged(Location AoE), -speed, -fly, -jump

This creates two pets – a fairly mediocre patch of land with – speed, -fly, and -jump effects (which I more or less ignore and a second invisible pet (that runs along after you) that has a fixed 50% chance of creating a 15 second vine for each mob it can target within the area. Note that this can accidently aggro mobs... 10-15 mobs is therefore an ideal target for the creeper creator, and it's effectively a second high-damage AoE power that can create immobilisations. The more mobs the merrier.

The one weakness of the creeper vines is that most enhancements don't reach them (being stopped by the intermediate pet), so there's not a lot of point slotting for more than rech and end – and with only a 15 second life expectancy there's not much point in buffing the vines. Now if only you had an AoE debuff to mob defence and resistance. Oh, hi there Freezing Rain...

SO Slotting: 3 recharge /1 End

Personal slotting: little different from above (I think I've pulled out some extra end from frankenslotting but that's about it).

Rating:


Summon Fly Trap
Ranged Control Special

Summons Audrey – a giant carnivorous fly trap. Her resistances are much lower than the other controller pets (to the point that many wonder if 4% is a misprint, being about a tenth of equivalents), and she has all the brains of a carrot. On the other hand, her single target damage output is competative (allowing you to solo at long last), and (perhaps unsurprisingly for the rest of the plant set) she comes with ranged AoE damage (a ranged cone and a ranged sphere). She's probably the first time you'll routinely be doing double digit damage (rather than *lots* of single digit damage that mounts up) Your single target damage has, however, shown up at L32

SO Slotting: 3 acc, 3 dam.

Personal slotting: 2 Acc/dam, 2 Acc/dam/end (all pet sets)

Rating (I'd prefer some of the other controller pet stats, but Audrey is well worth it and looks extremely cool).


Storm powers

Gale
Ranged Cone, knockback

You have to take this power, so you might as well make the best of it. Knockback is useful for positioning but ignore the damage – it's trivial. It's great fun, and quite useful for positioning mobs or simply throwing them away at low levels. And slotted and against seriously low level mobs it has a lot of comedy value as knockback scales with level difference.

SO Slotting: 1 Accuracy
Personal slotting: Kinetic Crash. I hate being knocked back, and with that much knockback it's fun.

Rating: - works, but most of your mobs are going to be rooted anyway.

02 Boost
Single Target Heal

A heal, and protects from disorient, sleep, and even endurance drain! Handy, especially against some high level foes. I took it at level 30 as I felt that killing mobs or seriously messing them up was more important – and most of the foes it protects against are more common in high levels. But L30 allowed me to use it on Audrey at L32 (and I didn't have anything else I wanted to use there).

SO Slotting Suggestion: It' a heal. Heal/Rech/End (amount depends on how much you use it)

Rating: Useful but not brilliant.


Snow Storm
Targetted AoE (autohitting) -speed, -recharge

Handy, although high endurance drain. The downside to this power is that if the mobs are under seeds of confusion then you don't want to slow them. On the other hand, when you want it it's nice. And although there aren't many targets that fly away from roots they do happen. And this will bring them down to earth.

SO Slotting: 2 EndRed. Possibly also slows (but tbh, I just root them anyway).

Personal slotting: 2*L25 IO EndRed

Rating: - Useful to slow everyone up, but you're normally going to have everyone mezzed or confused anyway. Very useful to bring down those irritating flyers. Rare, but extremely useful.

Steamy Mist
PBAoE, Team Stealth, Def, Res (Fire, Cold, Energy)

Stealth good. Combined with a stealth IO it is really good at allowing you to get the drop to get Seeds of Confusion off first.

SO Slotting: 2 EndRed
Personal Slotting: 3* EndRed/Res

Rating: - you're going to be getting enough aggro anyway. No point getting more by being spotted.

Freezing Rain
AoE, Def and Res debuff, knockdown, slow, trivial damage

One of the best powers and most synergystic in the Plant/Storm set. -Def, -Res allows everyone (vines, confused mobs, etc.) to hit more easily and for more damage. Knockdown is useful if you want to make an escape (I don't often use it – I prefer to confuse my targets and have them pound each other while rooted). Ignore the damage – it's entirely trivial

SO slotting: 3 Rech, 1 End

Personal Slotting (I think): 1 Rech, 2Rech/End, 1 End/Rech/Def Debuff

Rating: – nice debuff, synergises well with everything including the occasional need to make a quick getaway.

Hurricane
PBAoE repel, knockback, -tohit, -range

I didn't initially think that this would be useful – but the zombies really changed my mind. Useful for positioning, debuffing, and keeping your melee range clear (roots may resist the knockback, but not the repel. I don't use it that often – but I'm very glad I have it when I need to.

SO and Slotting: 2 Endred (mine are IOs). I can't do much to help the repel or the -range, and don't always want the knockback. As for -ToHit, there's also snow storm.

Rating



Thunderclap
PBAoE disorient (Mag 2)

Minions only. Mag 2 stacks neatly with other powers that cause stun in your primary. If you had any. Plant doesn't. So it only affects minions.

Slotting suggestion: Get a useful power unless you know the rest of the group has stuns.

Rating: - worthwhile with some powersets, but not Plant.

Tornado
Summon pet that causes knockback, knockup, and damage.

The official notes say that tornado does little damage. This is true – it does little damage every tick. Which adds up fast. It would be great at single target damage other than that it seems to have ADD. Which is easily sorted by eliminating all the other target (how? You are a plantie...) and that it knocks back everything it hits (unless rootspam absorbs that knockback). It was nerfed allowing trapped mobs to run out of it (so just root or strangler them...). And if all else fails drop it and run away – it'll seriously disrupt any pursuit.

In short, it's a power with very significant drawbacks – most of which are covered by plant. It also has very significant strengths (single target damage, chaotic control, ability to be sent from out of LoS) which all help plant.

SO Slotting: 3 Dam, 2 Rech, 1 End.

Rating: – a power with ups and downs that synergises amazingly with plant.


Lightning Storm
Summon pet (High dam, AoE, Knockback/knockdown)

Great power. Before L32 you had very little single target damage. Now you have loads of it (technically this is a small radius AoE, but who's quibbling) – although none of it is under your direct control. You can now solo very effectively. Place it where you want (if you place it high it does knockdown not knockback) and it will start zapping in small areas. Stay fairly close to it or it will stop zapping, but that's about all you need to do. Note that this does allow you to place it (stealthed from Steaming Mist) and then duck back round the corner)

I'm told that if you use ranged damage slotting then recharge cascades through to the attacks, allowing the lightning storm to fire faster. All I know is that mine does a lot of damage (I haven't timed it).

SO Slotting: If you don't want to frankenslot, 3 dam/2 rec/ 1 end
Personal slotting: 4*thunderstrike, 2*ruin (with five of those six being 3 way enhancements)

Rating – now, in addition to being an effective mezzing controller, you are a walking area of distruction quite capable of taking out just about anything.

Power Pools

Fitness A no-brainer. Storm is an end hog. And plant is hardly end-light. Get stamina. And health with the amount of aggro you're going to take... (I've also got swift, slotted for flight).

Travel pools
Take your pick. I like flight (and hover allows me to stay out of melee), and I've got Haste. But if you like Superspeed, Jumping or Teleport, I'm not going to say no. On the other hand, riding the winds really fits the charater concept, and allows you to do knockdown rather than knockback with Lightning Storm and Gale, and to sneak up on mobs in unexpected ways for Seeds.

Other
Medicine probably the most useful of the remaining ones. You have no self-heal and are getting a lot of aggro meaning you are going to be munching greens. But O2 boost is better than Aid Other...
Fighting Give this a miss. You want to be out of melee and you are already using masses of End so the toggles aren't worth it.
Leadership I tried this and respecced out of it. Felt like a good idea for Carrion Creepers – but this is already a high end set.
Concealment You've already got steaming mist and probably an IO to get you past 54 foot of stealth. Not worth the powers IMO.
Presence with the aggro you're already getting from roots, creepers, tornado, and lightning storm, you want taunts on a controller? You're joking, right?

Epic Power Pools:

I'm afraid I don't have the experience here. Note that roots is a much better AoE than fireball (but there's nothing wrong with having both...)

Your role in a team:

'Splattroller' – very high damage, rolling mezzes and soft controls. And lots and lots of confusion. You aren't a total lockdown controller (although Seeds of Confusion comes close and is easy to make recharge in less time than its duration) but the mobs should be in serious trouble. Note that you are a huge aggro magnet and are likely to die repeatedly on a mediocre team.

What you want from a team

Good tanks. That will pull the aggro off you. If you've got a herd tank in there, so much the better (between seeds and roots you eat herds alive – and won't be attacked from behind, and this means that they don't have to pull the aggro off you).

Single target damage. Preferably of the sort that will challenge bosses – it's much harder for you to mez bosses.

Healing. You can't heal yourself. And between masses of confusion, very high AoE damage, and decent controller level control (especially soft control) you will be the mobs chosen target far too often to be comfortable. And you're still a squishy. Don't be afraid of debt – but avoiding it is good.

Whew! That was longer than I expected. Thanks for reading.

As a supplement, I thought I'd add an approximation of Gaea's Avenger's current state at L40 (I can't remember the exact levels) and my plans for L50, and a couple of notes that I didn't put into the original gulde.

Gaea's Avenger @40

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.4006
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Level 40 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Plant Control
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Strangler
(A) Neuronic Shutdown - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge: Level 26
(3) Neuronic Shutdown - Endurance/Hold: Level 26
(3) Neuronic Shutdown - Hold/Range: Level 26
(5) Neuronic Shutdown - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 26
(5) Essence of Curare - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge: Level 26
(7) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 25


Level 1: Gale
(A) Kinetic Crash - Damage/Endurance/Knockback: Level 25
(7) Kinetic Crash - Accuracy/Knockback: Level 26
(9) Kinetic Crash - Recharge/Knockback: Level 26
(9) Kinetic Crash - Recharge/Endurance: Level 26


Level 2: Roots
(A) Trap of the Hunter - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 37
(11) Detonation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 37
(11) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge: Level 37
(13) Detonation - Damage/Recharge: Level 37
(13) Air Burst - Damage/Recharge: Level 37
(15) Trap of the Hunter - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 26


Level 4: Snow Storm
(A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 25
(15) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 25


Level 6: Hover
(A) Soaring - Endurance/FlySpeed: Level 32


Level 8: Seeds of Confusion
(A) Perplex - Accuracy/Confused/Recharge: Level 26
(17) Perplex - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 26
(17) Perplex - Recharge/Confused: Level 26
(19) Perplex - Endurance/Confused: Level 26
(19) Befuddling Aura - Accuracy/Confused/Recharge: Level 26
(21) Befuddling Aura - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 26


Level 10: Steamy Mist
(A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/Endurance: Level 26
(21) Impervious Skin - Resistance/Endurance: Level 26
(23) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance: Level 26


Level 12: Swift
(A) Flight Speed IO: Level 30


Level 14: Fly
(A) Freebird - Endurance: Level 26
(23) Freebird - FlySpeed: Level 26
(25) Freebird - +Stealth: Level 26


Level 16: Freezing Rain
(A) Undermined Defenses - Recharge/Endurance: Level 32
(25) Undermined Defenses - Defense Debuff/Recharge/Endurance: Level 37
(27) Undermined Defenses - Recharge: Level 42
(27) Undermined Defenses - Defense Debuff/Recharge: Level 42


Level 18: Health
(A) Healing IO: Level 25


Level 20: Stamina
(A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 25
(29) Endurance Modification IO: Level 25
(29) Endurance Modification IO: Level 25


Level 22: Hurricane
(A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 25
(31) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 25


Level 24: Hasten
(A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 25
(31) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 25
(31) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 25


Level 26: Carrion Creepers
(A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 25
(33) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 30
(33) Curtail Speed - Endurance/Recharge/Slow: Level 30
(33) Tempered Readiness - Endurance/Recharge/Slow: Level 32


Level 28: Vines
(A) Essence of Curare - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge: Level 32
(34) Paralytic - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge: Level 30


Level 30: O2 Boost
(A) Healing IO: Level 25


Level 32: Fly Trap
(A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage: Level 37
(34) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 37
(34) Brilliant Leadership - Accuracy/Damage: Level 37
(36) Brilliant Leadership - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 37
(36) Edict of the Master - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 37


Level 35: Tornado
(A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage: Level 37
(36) Blood Mandate - Damage: Level 42
(37) Blood Mandate - Damage/Endurance: Level 40
(37) Undermined Defenses - Recharge: Level 42
(37) Undermined Defenses - Recharge/Endurance: Level 42
(39) Undermined Defenses - Defense Debuff/Recharge: Level 42


Level 38: Lightning Storm
(A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 42
(39) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 42
(39) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge: Level 42
(40) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 42
(40) Ruin - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 40
(40) Ruin - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 40


Level 41: [Empty]
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
------------
Level 1: Brawl
(A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 10


Level 1: Sprint
(A) Run Speed IO: Level 15


Level 2: Rest
(A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 25


Level 1: Containment
------------
Set Bonus Totals:
4% DamageBuff(Smashing)
4% DamageBuff(Lethal)
4% DamageBuff(Fire)
4% DamageBuff(Cold)
4% DamageBuff(Energy)
4% DamageBuff(Negative)
4% DamageBuff(Toxic)
4% DamageBuff(Psionic)
0.95% Defense(Fire)
0.95% Defense(Cold)
2.5% Defense(Energy)
3.6% Max End
26% Enhancement(Accuracy)
1.5% Enhancement(Confused)
5% Enhancement(Immobilize)
30.5 HP (3%) HitPoints
Knockback (Mag -3)
Knockup (Mag -3)
MezResist(Immobilize) 2.2%
MezResist(Sleep) 1.65%
MezResist(Terrorized) 1.65%
6% (0.1 End/sec) Recovery
18% (0.76 HP/sec) Regeneration
2.5% Resistance(Smashing)
3% RunSpeed



------------
Set Bonuses:
Neuronic Shutdown
(Strangler)
MezResist(Immobilize) 2.2%
15.3 HP (1.5%) HitPoints
7% Enhancement(Accuracy)


Kinetic Crash
(Gale)
3% RunSpeed
2.5% Resistance(Smashing)
Knockback Protection (Mag -3)


Trap of the Hunter
(Roots)
5% Enhancement(Immobilize)


Detonation
(Roots)
MezResist(Sleep) 1.65%


Perplex
(Seeds of Confusion)
6% (0.25 HP/sec) Regeneration
1.5% Enhancement(Confused)
5% Enhancement(Accuracy)


Befuddling Aura
(Seeds of Confusion)
1% (0.02 End/sec) Recovery


Freebird
(Fly)
8% (0.34 HP/sec) Regeneration
15.3 HP (1.5%) HitPoints


Undermined Defenses
(Freezing Rain)
2% DamageBuff(All)
1.8% Max End
7% Enhancement(Accuracy)


Blood Mandate
(Fly Trap)
1.5% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery


Brilliant Leadership
(Fly Trap)
4% (0.17 HP/sec) Regeneration


Blood Mandate
(Tornado)
1.5% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
0.95% Defense(Fire,Cold)


Undermined Defenses
(Tornado)
2% DamageBuff(All)
1.8% Max End


Thunderstrike
(Lightning Storm)
2% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
2.5% Defense(Energy)
7% Enhancement(Accuracy)


Ruin
(Lightning Storm)
MezResist(Terrorized) 1.65%






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Notes:

Roots has 90% damage, 90% recharge, and a damage proc (smashing damage. (And some accuracy and endurance) This can be extremely bad for my health as spamming it (which I do) will pull aggro off many Fire/Fire blasters and tanks (especially Willpower ones). I'd probably faceplant a lot less if I got rid of this.

Freezing Rain: I know it's different to what I advocated above. I only spotted the pure recharge in Undermined Defences last night.

Tornado: I don't know if the accuracy passes through to the tornado itself. But the set is close enough to the limit I can't be bothered to change this.

Gale: Slotted for the knockback protection. (Will also provide a Recharge bonus)

As you can see from the below L50, I don't think that there is too much I can do to improve on the already existing slotting.

Brawl and Sprint: Your point? Those enhancements were cheaper than TOs would have been.

Gaea's Avenger @ 50

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.4006
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Plant Control
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Primal Forces Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Strangler
(A) Neuronic Shutdown - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge: Level 26
(3) Neuronic Shutdown - Endurance/Hold: Level 26
(3) Neuronic Shutdown - Hold/Range: Level 26
(5) Neuronic Shutdown - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 26
(5) Essence of Curare - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge: Level 26
(7) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 25


Level 1: Gale
(A) Kinetic Crash - Damage/Endurance/Knockback: Level 25
(7) Kinetic Crash - Accuracy/Knockback: Level 26
(9) Kinetic Crash - Recharge/Knockback: Level 26
(9) Kinetic Crash - Recharge/Endurance: Level 26
(42) Kinetic Crash - Damage/Knockback: Level 50
(43) Kinetic Crash - Accuracy/Damage/Knockback: Level 50


Level 2: Roots
(A) Detonation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
(11) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
(11) Detonation - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
(13) Air Burst - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
(13) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 37
(15) Trap of the Hunter - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 26


Level 4: Snow Storm
(A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
(15) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
(46) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge: Level 50


Level 6: Hover
(A) Soaring - Endurance/FlySpeed: Level 32
(43) Soaring - Endurance: Level 50
(45) Soaring - FlySpeed: Level 50


Level 8: Seeds of Confusion
(A) Coercive Persuasion - Contagious Confusion: Level 50
(17) Coercive Persuasion - Accuracy/Confused/Recharge: Level 50
(17) Coercive Persuasion - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50
(19) Coercive Persuasion - Confused/Endurance: Level 50
(19) Coercive Persuasion - Confused/Recharge: Level 50
(21) Perplex - Accuracy/Endurance: Level 50


Level 10: Steamy Mist
(A) Hydra:Electron Particles
(21) Hydra:Electron Particles
(23) Hydra:Electron Particles
(43) Kismet - Accuracy +6%: Level 30


Level 12: Swift
(A) Flight Speed IO: Level 30


Level 14: Fly
(A) Freebird - Endurance: Level 26
(23) Freebird - FlySpeed: Level 26
(25) Freebird - +Stealth: Level 26


Level 16: Freezing Rain
(A) Undermined Defenses - Recharge/Endurance: Level 32
(25) Undermined Defenses - Defense Debuff/Recharge/Endurance: Level 37
(27) Undermined Defenses - Recharge: Level 42
(27) Undermined Defenses - Defense Debuff/Recharge: Level 42


Level 18: Health
(A) Healing IO: Level 50
(45) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery: Level 50
(46) Numina's Convalescence - Heal: Level 50


Level 20: Stamina
(A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 25
(29) Endurance Modification IO: Level 25
(29) Endurance Modification IO: Level 25


Level 22: Hurricane
(A) Dampened Spirits - To Hit Debuff/Endurance: Level 50
(31) Dampened Spirits - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance: Level 50
(48) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50


Level 24: Hasten
(A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 25
(31) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 25
(31) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 25


Level 26: Carrion Creepers
(A) Force Feedback - Recharge/Endurance: Level 50
(33) Kinetic Crash - Recharge/Endurance: Level 50
(33) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
(33) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50


Level 28: Vines
(A) Essence of Curare - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge: Level 50
(34) Essence of Curare - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50


Level 30: O2 Boost
(A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
(46) HamiO:Golgi Exposure


Level 32: Fly Trap
(A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage: Level 37
(34) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 37
(34) Brilliant Leadership - Accuracy/Damage: Level 37
(36) Brilliant Leadership - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 37
(36) Edict of the Master - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 37


Level 35: Tornado
(A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage: Level 37
(36) Blood Mandate - Damage: Level 42
(37) Blood Mandate - Damage/Endurance: Level 40
(37) Undermined Defenses - Recharge: Level 42
(37) Undermined Defenses - Recharge/Endurance: Level 42
(39) Undermined Defenses - Defense Debuff/Recharge: Level 42


Level 38: Lightning Storm
(A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 42
(39) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 42
(39) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge: Level 42
(40) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 42
(40) Ruin - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 40
(40) Ruin - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 40


Level 41: Conserve Power
(A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
(42) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
(42) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50


Level 44: Temp Invulnerability
(A) Hydra:Electron Particles
(45) Hydra:Electron Particles


Level 47: Spore Burst
(A) Fortunata Hypnosis - Accuracy/Sleep/Recharge: Level 50
(48) Fortunata Hypnosis - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50
(48) Fortunata Hypnosis - Sleep/Recharge: Level 50
(50) Fortunata Hypnosis - Sleep/Endurance: Level 50
(50) Fortunata Hypnosis - Chance for Placate: Level 50


Level 49: Power Boost
(A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
(50) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50


------------
Level 1: Brawl
(A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 10


Level 1: Sprint
(A) Run Speed IO: Level 15


Level 2: Rest
(A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 25


Level 1: Containment
------------
Set Bonus Totals:
10% DamageBuff(Smashing)
10% DamageBuff(Lethal)
10% DamageBuff(Fire)
10% DamageBuff(Cold)
10% DamageBuff(Energy)
10% DamageBuff(Negative)
10% DamageBuff(Toxic)
10% DamageBuff(Psionic)
0.95% Defense(Fire)
0.95% Defense(Cold)
2.5% Defense(Energy)
3.6% Max End
36% Enhancement(Accuracy)
4% Enhancement(Confused)
27.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
38.2 HP (3.75%) HitPoints
Knockback (Mag -3)
Knockup (Mag -3)
MezResist(Immobilize) 2.2%
MezResist(Sleep) 1.65%
MezResist(Terrorized) 3.3%
16.5% (0.28 End/sec) Recovery
30% (1.27 HP/sec) Regeneration
2.5% Resistance(Smashing)
2.52% Resistance(Fire)
2.52% Resistance(Cold)
3% RunSpeed



------------
Set Bonuses:
Neuronic Shutdown
(Strangler)
MezResist(Immobilize) 2.2%
15.3 HP (1.5%) HitPoints
7% Enhancement(Accuracy)


Kinetic Crash
(Gale)
3% RunSpeed
2.5% Resistance(Smashing)
Knockback Protection (Mag -3)
6% (0.25 HP/sec) Regeneration
7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)


Detonation
(Roots)
MezResist(Sleep) 1.65%


Positron's Blast
(Roots)
2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery


Soaring
(Hover)
1% (0.02 End/sec) Recovery
7.63 HP (0.75%) HitPoints


Coercive Persuasion
(Seeds of Confusion)
4% (0.07 End/sec) Recovery
4% Enhancement(Confused)
4% DamageBuff(All)
10% Enhancement(RechargeTime)


Freebird
(Fly)
8% (0.34 HP/sec) Regeneration
15.3 HP (1.5%) HitPoints


Undermined Defenses
(Freezing Rain)
2% DamageBuff(All)
1.8% Max End
7% Enhancement(Accuracy)


Numina's Convalescence
(Health)
12% (0.51 HP/sec) Regeneration


Dampened Spirits
(Hurricane)
2% DamageBuff(All)


Essence of Curare
(Vines)
MezResist(Terrorized) 1.65%


Blood Mandate
(Fly Trap)
1.5% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery


Brilliant Leadership
(Fly Trap)
4% (0.17 HP/sec) Regeneration


Blood Mandate
(Tornado)
1.5% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
0.95% Defense(Fire,Cold)


Undermined Defenses
(Tornado)
2% DamageBuff(All)
1.8% Max End


Thunderstrike
(Lightning Storm)
2% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
2.5% Defense(Energy)
7% Enhancement(Accuracy)


Ruin
(Lightning Storm)
MezResist(Terrorized) 1.65%


Fortunata Hypnosis
(Spore Burst)
4% (0.07 End/sec) Recovery
2.52% Resistance(Fire,Cold)
15% Enhancement(Accuracy)
10% Enhancement(RechargeTime)






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The Rootspam has become even more lethal with the addition of a second proc damage (making it even more competative with blaster AoE spam as there is only one damage proc they can use at a time (although if they are an AoE blaster they will be blasting with several AoEs)), Spore Burst has been taken simply for the second Purple set (I'd call 10% recharge and 15% accuracy more useful than most other power choices, and sleep is sometimes usefulin its own right). But as you can see, I think there isn't too much room for improvement on my existing slotting.

I also was planning to add a note on Nemesis. Those ****s are immune to Confuse and seem to be resistant to Smashing and Lethal as well, causing me huge problems that are only multiplied by their snipers seeing through my stealth. They are therefore a nuisance to me and entirely prevent my Seeds of Confusion aggro redirection. So I faceplanted a lot when I first met them. I am, however, adapting my playstyle and find them easier now, so thought I'd share the methods:

Pretend you are a Storm defender with Carrion Creepers if you need to fight them in the open. Roots or Seeds of Confusion will make you a higher priority target than the blaster. So don't use seeds and only use Roots from round the corner (LoS to one mob and you can hit the lot - and unlike a blaster, the mobs you've hit can't come looking for you). For that matter use lightning storm and tornado from round the corner and the Creepers will go round corners as well...

Nice guide with good synergy tips in there (Freezing Rain & Seeds, Freezing Rain & Creepers, Roots & Tornado & Lightning Storm).

One thing :
[ QUOTE ]

Entangle
Ranged, Foe Immobilize
It's a single target AoE Immobilise.


[/ QUOTE ]


Also apparently the Lady Grey PROC is great in Audrey as it'll try and PROC for any of her attacks.

Doh on the mistake (it is, of course, single target), and I'll have to look into the price of Lady Grey's negative energy damage proc at Wentworth's, thanks. (I'm sitting on 20 million at the moment after having just bought a Kismet +6% to hit for Steaming Mist). Thanks for both the feedback and the tip.

Quick I13 update: the bug in the Fly Trap has been fixed, causing some of its resistances to be increased to somthing respectable (20% if the City of Data preview is accurate). On the other hand this means that resistences to cold, fire, and negative are now strongly negative (plants burn). Fortunately the two more common problems here (Fire and Cold) are partially covered by steaming mist if you are close enough.

Very nice guide Paralux!

I'm not exactly short on alts at the moment, but after reading through this I've added a Plant/Storm to the end of the "try next" list.

Nice guide

I think you didnt mention that plant/storm happens to be very proc friendly. You get many powers that take achilles heel -res proc and all of the are AoE. Freezing rain, fly trap (well he is not aoe but has aoes) and tornado. If you stick a -res proc in all of those pretty much everyone is guaranteed to be at -20% res on top of freezing rain

Also as someone mentioned earlier, lady Grey procs are your friends.


And as a sample build:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1,4006
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Plant Control
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Stone Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Strangler -- G'Wdw-Acc/Rchg(A), G'Wdw-Acc/Hold/Rchg(17), G'Wdw-EndRdx/Hold(17), EoCur-Acc/Hold/Rchg(19), Para-Acc/Hold/Rchg(19)
Level 1: Gale -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Roots -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(3), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), Posi-Dam%(7), GravAnch-Hold%(21)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- ImpSwft-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(A), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(5), P'ngTtl-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(5)
Level 6: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 8: Seeds of Confusion -- CoPers-Conf/Rchg(A), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(9), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(9), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(11), CoPers-Conf%(11)
Level 10: Steamy Mist -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam(13), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(13), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(15), EndRdx-I(15)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Freezing Rain -- Achilles-ResDeb%(A), LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg(21), LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(23), LdyGrey-Rchg/EndRdx(23), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(25), Slow-I(25)
Level 18: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(34)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(27), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(29), P'Shift-End%(29)
Level 22: Hurricane -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(27), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(36), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(36)
Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(37), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 26: Carrion Creepers -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(37), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 28: Maneuvers -- Krma-ResKB(A)
Level 30: Tactics -- AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(31), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(31), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg(31), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(34)
Level 32: Fly Trap -- Achilles-ResDeb%(A), LdyGrey-%Dam(33), S'bndAl-Dmg(33), S'bndAl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), S'bndAl-Build%(34), HO:Nucle(36)
Level 35: Tornado -- LdyGrey-%Dam(A), ExStrk-Dam%(43), S'bndAl-Dmg/EndRdx(45), S'bndAl-Acc/Rchg(45), S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg(45), Dmg-I(46)
Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(A), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(39), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(39), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Dmg-I(40)
Level 41: Fissure -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(42), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), Posi-Dam%(43), ExStrk-Dam%(43)
Level 44: Rock Armor -- RedFtn-Def(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(46), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(46), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(48), RedFtn-EndRdx(48)
Level 47: Earth's Embrace -- Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(48), Dct'dW-Rchg(50), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(50), Dct'dW-Heal(50)
Level 49: Vengeance -- Krma-ResKB(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]8% DamageBuff(Smashing)[*]8% DamageBuff(Lethal)[*]8% DamageBuff(Fire)[*]8% DamageBuff(Cold)[*]8% DamageBuff(Energy)[*]8% DamageBuff(Negative)[*]8% DamageBuff(Toxic)[*]8% DamageBuff(Psionic)[*]3% Defense(Smashing)[*]3% Defense(Lethal)[*]3% Defense(Fire)[*]3% Defense(Cold)[*]3% Defense(Energy)[*]3% Defense(Negative)[*]3% Defense(Psionic)[*]3% Defense(Melee)[*]3% Defense(Ranged)[*]3% Defense(AoE)[*]4% Enhancement(Heal)[*]4% Enhancement(Confused)[*]42,5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]27% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]5% FlySpeed[*]156,4 HP (15,4%) HitPoints[*]5% JumpHeight[*]5% JumpSpeed[*]Knockback (Mag -8)[*]Knockup (Mag -8)[*]MezResist(Immobilize) 2,2%[*]MezResist(Sleep) 2,2%[*]MezResist(Terrorized) 2,2%[*]20% (0,33 End/sec) Recovery[*]32% (1,36 HP/sec) Regeneration[*]5,67% Resistance(Fire)[*]5,67% Resistance(Cold)[*]1,26% Resistance(Energy)[*]1,26% Resistance(Negative)[*]10% RunSpeed[/list]


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[ QUOTE ]
Very nice guide Paralux!

I'm not exactly short on alts at the moment, but after reading through this I've added a Plant/Storm to the end of the "try next" list.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yay! The more the merrier. (And yes, I did forget to mention how proc-friendly the build was).

One last addendum, having finally hit 50. To me one of the most fun things about the plant/storm combination is that no two powers work remotely the same way or for the same purpose. When I play a blaster I get a strong single target ranged attack, a medium single target ranged attack, and a weak single target ranged attack. Meh. (I could say simmilar things about Scrappers, Tanks, and the Defender secondaries). But with a plant/storm, every power looks significantly different from every other power and is used significantly differently. SO each new power (with the exceptions of Swift and Health) seriously changed the way I played the toon, which made it continually interesting. At least until L40 - I made the mistake of choosing the Power Mastery epic and didn't really feel I had any new powers after that, making the home run seem massively dull and tedious (would have been better if I'd picked any of the other epics, but even then it would have been dull by comparison).

Thanks for a good guide. I am coming back from a long hiatus from the game (3 years or so) and I wanted to play with some of the new power sets. A Plant/Storm is one of the two new toons I have been running regularly and I have to say I love it. I have a lvl 50 Ice/Rad controller and I am having more fun running my lil lvl 30 Plant/Storm. So, after I ran my new toon a bit I decided to look for a guide to see what other people have had to say about it and ran across this post. It is very well done and informative.

A few comments:

(1)Why no epics? I understand to a degree talking about the two sets, and the fact you were L40 when you wrote this, but what we're really after in a guide is talking about a complete character, and epics are vitally important to that conversation for controllers. How one plays and builds their plant/storm can change a great deal depending on the epics selected.

(2) The guide is a little sparse with need to know information. This guide would have worked well in issue 4. At issue 16, when we know the real numbers and have plenty of guides involving each set, I feel it is a little lacking. There is some minor discussion of interplay with the two sets, but very sparse, particularly for a set as versatile and complex as storm is. If you decide to utilize this feedback to improve your guide, I suggest reading something like Tal N's Smoke guide (Ill/Storm) or even one of Whisperwitch's old Mind guides. Those guides are good examples not only for their excellent layout, but they give you play experience in different situations with different combinations.

For example, you mention Nemesis, which are especially problematic for plant users. This is a situation that really shows that plant trollers are more than seeds/roots/debuff. A lot of the tools that aren't necessarily needed because of seeds become useful against an enemy like Nemesis. Hurricane becomes more useful. Thunderclap/Roots/Tornado becomes a semi-effective combo, particularly when snow storm and freezing rain's slows are counted. It can be one of those rare times you want to use freezing rain's knockdown without the immobs or roots. Or the technique you mentioned of using carrion creepers. Those situations don't come up often, but they are what separates a plant/storm from a generic plant using splat-troller. It also fleshes out the guide for people who already know the basics from the power description and numbers, but may not know the intricacies of play beyond the basic building blocks of the sets.

(3) IO slotting. Again, this is where the guide comes off as an issue 4 guide rather than an Issue 16 guide. Depending on how one wants to play their Plant/Storm and what epics they choose, the slotting choices can be remarkably different and extremely varied. There are a lot of proc options in the combination, for instance. Roots/Freezing Rain/Creepers/Epic AOE are all examples that leap out of my head. You can build the combo for softcap defense, load up on a ton of recharge, etcetera. Endurance issues are a big concern for a Storm user running full tilt, and I didn't see those really addressed. These are some of the slotting related ideas that could improve the guide.

(4) This is just feedback, you have to decide if it is useful or not. This is a pretty good basis for a guide, and I hope you continue with it. It looks like you learned a lot about the sets from even L40 to L50. I look forward to a Revision 2 of this guide in the future.

There was a bug in Carrion Creepers when I wrote that guide - I'd slot it differently now.

As for the rest, I'll agree Tal 'N Smoke's guide looks good. It fills in a lot of the details I left out. But I've more or less retired from CoX these days (I'm back for the double XP and free rejoin and may be back again for Going Rogue). So there won't be a v2 of the guide. (As for Plant/Storm vs Nemesis, my approach in the end was to play a slightly weakened Storm defender with a few plant tricks. It was a learning curve and I'd need to get back into the game to remember how I did it). Thanks for the feedback