Are you looking for a DO/SO build for leveling or are you looking for an IO build. Cause those are entirely two different animals.
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Undecided. I've recently re-activated my account and the last time I played was prior to IO's so I'm still learning |
Originally Posted by Sterling
Are you looking for a DO/SO build for leveling or are you looking for an IO build. Cause those are entirely two different animals.
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So ... given that I'll probably focus on SO's and normal crafted IO's but I would very much like to hear recommendations on that. Still need to get into figuring out how to build up toons with some of the IO sets.
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+ Built with SuckerPunch's Online Planner v5.0
+ http://planner.cohtitan.com/planner
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Archetype: Controller
Primary: Plant Control
Secondary: Storm Summoning
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01: Strangler => Accuracy(1), Damage(3), Damage(3), Recharge(5), Recharge(5), Hold(7)
01: Gale => Accuracy(1)
02: Roots => Accuracy(2), Accuracy(7), Damage(9), Damage(9), Damage(11), EnduranceDiscount(11)
04: Snow Storm => EnduranceDiscount(4), EnduranceDiscount(13)
06: Swift => SpeedRunning(6)
08: Seeds of Confusion => Accuracy(8), Accuracy(13), Recharge(15), Recharge(15), Recharge(17), Confuse(17)
10: Steamy Mist => EnduranceDiscount(10), EnduranceDiscount(19)
12: Hasten => Recharge(12), Recharge(19), Recharge(21)
14: Health => Heal(14), Heal(21)
16: Freezing Rain => Recharge(16), Recharge(23), Recharge(23), EnduranceDiscount(25)
18: Vines => Accuracy(18)
20: Stamina => Recovery(20), Recovery(25), Recovery(27)
22: Super Speed => EnduranceDiscount(22)
24: Combat Jumping => Buff_Defense(24)
26: Carrion Creepers => Accuracy(26), Damage(27), Damage(29), Recharge(29), Recharge(31), Recharge(31)
28: Super Jump => Jump(28)
30: Hurricane => EnduranceDiscount(30), EnduranceDiscount(31), Debuff_ToHit(33)
32: Fly Trap => Accuracy(32), Damage(33), Damage(33), Damage(34), Recharge(34), Recharge(34)
35: Tornado => Recharge(35), Recharge(36), Recharge(36), Damage(36), Damage(37), EnduranceDiscount(37)
38: Lightning Storm => Recharge(38), Recharge(39), Damage(39), Damage(39)
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+ Inherent Powers
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01: Brawl => Empty(1)
01: Sprint => Empty(1)
02: Rest => Empty(2)
OK here is a quick and dirty build based on my Plant/Storm to level 39...Ignore the slot levels but keep in mind that is how many slots you should be aiming for by lvl 39.
You want your single target hold to have one accuracy, a couple of damage, a couple of recharge and a hold...or frankenslot it, which is what I did. If you don't care to much about set bonuses you can find some nice IO recipes cheap at Went's (never buy IO's outright unless you are rolling in influence.) You will also want to slot Roots and Seeds of Confusion up as quickly as possible. Those will be your major one/two punch throughout your career (Edit: One/Two/Three Punch. use stealth to get as close to mobs as you can. Use Seeds, use root, then use freezing rain...repeat roots as neccesary). Also, Confusion IO sets are usually real cheap. You might want to look at the various set bonuses and see about getting some of them. I am using Malaise at the moment.
Also notice I put my movement power(s) off til later. I have ninja run so I felt I could put those off. If you don't have that pack you may want to juggle things a bit to get a travel power earlier. I reccomend Superspeed, especially for leveling. Combined with Steamy Mist it gives you an effective stealth and you can get to mission objectives quickly, allowing you to rack up a lot of xp by just the completion xp alone.
It is an extremely fun combo of power sets to play. Enjoy! and I hope I helped some.
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Thanks a ton for this Sterling. It really does help quite a bit. Last question ... If I were to begin weaving in set IO's where should I be focusing and what would that start to look like?
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Originally Posted by Sterling
It is an extremely fun combo of power sets to play. Enjoy! and I hope I helped some.
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There are generally two approaches with IO's. |
Originally Posted by AZKinger
Thanks a ton for this Sterling. It really does help quite a bit. Last question ... If I were to begin weaving in set IO's where should I be focusing and what would that start to look like?
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One is to frankenslot, or grab IO's with multiple values essential to a power. For example, there are a number of set IO's that contain acc/hold/recharge that you could use for your holds. You can use these to obtain higher bonuses in a power than by using SO's or generic IO's. This is generally an easily obtainable route to go and you can avoid expensive pieces.
The other approach to slotting is to acquire set bonuses. As you may know, slotting multiple enhancements from a single set in a power grants you an additional bonus. For example, four pieces of Basilisk's Gaze will grant you 1.25% ranged defense, 2% recovery, and 7.5% recharge globally. Generally, people will select a single aspect and use as many sets as possible that grant a bonus to that aspect. However, due to the highly desirable nature of some bonuses, certain sets may be much more expensive than others. A better bonus usually means a higher price at the market.
Two of the most popular bonuses to chase after are defense and recharge. For most controllers, pursuing recharge bonuses is very handy. It will allow you to get your AoE controls, debuffs, and other useful powers like Creepers and Lightning Storm up more often. It is even possible to stack enough recharge to make Hasten recharge faster than its duration. Defense is also a popular if you can reach the soft-cap*. Generally, reaching the soft-cap for smashing/lethal and it great increases your survivability against most mobs.
*At 45% defense, minions up to +5 will only have a %5 chance to hit you. This is the lowest chance possible. The most common damage type and therefore sought after defense is usually smashing/lethal.
If you are a PC user, then I highly recommend downloading the Mid's Hero Designer. It will let you lay out powers and sets so you can have a goal in mind before you start slotting.
Also, bear in mind that some builds are long term goals. You won't be able to pick up everything you want on a casual play through to 50. However, if it is a character you enjoy and will play often after hitting 50 then set bonuses are an additional goal that can be fun to shoot for.
Plant/Storm is really endurance heavy...If you can frankenslot in accuracy/endurance or whatever it can be a big help. You will throw a little party when you get Stamina. As far as slotting towards an endgame build there are different paths to take all of them have advantages and disadvantages. I am like you I have come back playing after a long abscence and only just got done IO'ing one of my toons. I am not 100% sure what path I will take with my plant/storm.
From what I have gathered you can slot for mainly recharge, mainly ranged defense or for mainly smashing/lethal defense. The Recharge route is so your powers come up faster with your survivability coming through the sheer amount of controls and damage you can dish out...If you go this route I suggest going with the fire epic for consume or primal for conserve power. With Defense if you go with Ranged it is because anything that gets in melee can be gotten rid of by hurricane whilst plunging their to hit down the drain. Going S/L defense gives you a bit more versatility as the vast majority of attacks have either a smashing or lethal component to them. If you go either defense route I suggest going with Stone or Ice. From what I have seen most people prefer Stone...
Also whatever little recovery bonus you can get from various sets is nice to have. A lot of sets have a recovery bonus with only two or three of the set slotted and like I said Plant/Storm is an endurance hog.
Sterling's build is very close to my own. The only thing I did differently is that I took O2 boost rather than a second travel power (Superspeed + Super Jump isn't necessary, but the utility of O2 boost, is huge; especially since the Fly Trap is the squishiest pet in the game). I've found that the only things that pierce the veil of my Steaming Mists regularly is Nemesis, and you can deal with them using Creepers, Freezing Rain from around a corner, or your AoE hold so full invisibility isn't needed unless you want to stealth mission (I go to missions to beat up bad guys, not to avoid them completely).
I took the Ice APP for Hibernation (you don't need the extra damage by that time really so Frost Breath and Ice Storm were gratuitous).
Without set bonuses you will find yourself running low one Endurance VERY quickly unless you slot some end reduction in nearly every power. With sets, you can generally get enough end reduction slotted and recovery bonuses to make it pretty smooth. I still find myself running low on power early in a fight, but often I can take most of the rest of the fight to recover, because a lot of Plant/Storm is dumping everything plus the kitchen sink early and then standing back while the mobs die. You will be spamming Roots for damage even if you don't need to do anything else after setting the destruction in motion so there is some endurance drain during every fight right up to the end.
O2 boost is definitely not bad to have. But I have noticed that Fly Trap generally hangs out and fights at range and I dont have a need to heal it that much. So I just went with a second travel power, even though I don't really need it. Generally if my Fly Trap does die my cool down on my power is up and I can just summon a new one. I took Super Jump cause I like some vertical movement in getting around. But O2 Boost is a good choice as well. My main problem with O2 Boost is that it is a relatively small heal. To really get it worthwhile you would need to invest more slots into it then I am willing to.
Safe to assume Vines gets more slotting during the final levels? Because as is it's a wasted pick.
Vines is an Excellent place to 6 slot Lockdown. Good bonuses and the proc is awesome. Or if you want to shorten it to 4 slots, franken-slotting 4x accuracy/hold/recharge also works pretty well. It can wait till a bit later though (mid 30s ... I didn't slot Tornado as heavily so you can find slots then if you need some).
Anyone have a good Plant/Storm build that will perform well solo? I think this will be my double XP weekend project ...