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Sure it is. An annoying, waste of end, xp leaching playstyle, but playstyle it is.|
Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
It's not a playstyle.
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Glad to have you in the game Danny, and glad to see you're willing to learn something new. That's a better start than most, and better mindset than some veterans.
They ALL float down here. When you're down here with us, you'll float too!
@Starflier
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In a nutshell, Controls and buffs are proactive, heals are reactive.|
Originally Posted by Danny D
My second build (do we say build in this game? Spec? Power set allocation? … moving along..) is much more focused on my primary power set. I focused more on rooting and immobilizing my opponents in group play, and a lot less on active healing. It worked out a lot better!
And I mean a lot better. Plus it was a lot of fun too. I get it now I think. My class (again, do we use class here? It might take a few days or so to get the language right, lol) … ahem, my class (?) is called a controller for a reason. I control the fight. Heals are useful, but it is not what I should be focusing on entirely. Thank goodness this game allows for me to have two separate builds (?). I will probably have to ignore my first build for awhile until I can change it. (I will need to look up when a character can and how a character can change a build) Absolutely wonderful replies to my original post. So very helpful. My thanks once again!!!! Cheers. |
I assume by now that your character is high enough to have the key powers for Plant control in low levels: Strangler, the single target Hold; Roots, the Area of Effect Immobilize that does damage over time; and Seeds of Confusion, a cone confuse power that is the key to the entire Plant Control set.
Ideally, your teammates will help to gather the foes into a tight group, so that you can step up and cast Seeds on the group, then immobilize them in place with Roots. Except for the few foes that might have been missed and the Bosses, the entire group should be waiting for your team to clobber them. Meanwhile, you keep throwing out Roots to add more damage over time and try to hold Bosses and escapees with Strangler. Pretty simple, really. The hardest part is deciding when the right time and place to throw Seeds might be. Once Seeds has been used, you are mostly limited to your single target Hold and immobilizing a group . . . but foes who are only immobilized can shoot at you even if they can't move.
Eventually, Vines gives you another option to hold groups. And even better, Carrion Creepers lets you distract foes before you throw Seeds. And finally, Venus Fly Trap (also known as "Chompy" or my favorite, "Twoey" based upon the man-eating plant in Little Shop of Horrors named "Audrey II.") is probably the coolest looking pet in the game -- but not the most effective. Still, Twoey can help with some damage and some immobilize and drawing the attention of foes.
The other Plant powers are optional. All three (Entangle, Spirit Tree and Spore Burst) have their uses, and different people will give you different opinions on which are worth taking.
LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
Heh. I call my flytrap "OmNom". And it can produce some nasty damage, especially when the bite attack comes up in the cycle. Just don't forget that your 'trap has fact-recharging ranged thorn attacks >.>
Pay careful attention to the power descriptions; I'm not sure, but it sounded like you said you had taken the immobilize and Roots... which is the AoE immobilize. If you have not taken your hold ("Strangler"), you really should at the first available opportunity.
Random aside- something that may cause confusion for you is the fact that others may complain about your confuse. Enemies give experience (to a certain degree) by how much damage your team has done to them; if somebody not on your team does the lion's share of the damage (either another player, or a confused mob, or an Architect Entertainment single-mission-pet- a rescuee), then your exp will be reduced. However: according to the math that I've seen run, the experience-over-time gain is faster with the mobs helping to kill one another. So even though each mob gives less experience, the fact that you're ripping through them much faster means that there's a net gain.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
Don't discount Entangle. The single target Immobs for Controllers are fast recharge, long duration, high magnitude and decent damage.
They help make a decent damage single target attack chain when slotted for damage.
The quick recharge and high mag allows you to immob bosses in one shot and lets you immob Archvillians so you can get containment. The AoE immob I find isn't sufficient to immob AVs and is an end hog for single target anyways.
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You know, there is a good example of this sort of method at work even here in CoX: the Hamidon Raid. The nature of the raid basically means that the only form of damage mitigation that has any real effect is regen. Hamidon's attacks ignore defense and resistance (except for that provided by EoEs), -damage and -to hit are basically useless and the effectiveness of healing is drastically reduced by the resist heal debuff from his attacks. Consequently regen is the only effective form of mitigation.
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Originally Posted by Rigel_Kent
In some MMORPGs, there are three trinity roles (DPS, tanking, or healing), and to make game balance easier for the devs, the devs make non trinity roles (buffing, debuffing, mezzing) just about useless.
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AVs and GMs have a little taste of it, too, with many (roughly half? not gonna bother counting) debuffs being made weaker than a small insp buff or TO enhancement. Still, trinity gameplay in CoX is safely the exception, not the rule.
Hrm. Wiccania has a point- I don't think the magnitude of the single-target immobilize (Entangle) is actually any stronger than the AoE version, but it is absolutely invaluable in AV fights (AVs are the City of Heroes equivalent to... eh, sorta like Raid Bosses- high-powered enemies that it typically takes a team of characters to bring down).
Checking Red Tomax' power quantification (Paragonwiki is a superb link; Titan Network has both that and a quite a few other of the most popular and highly useful City of Heroes/Villains resources)... aaaand it turns out I was wrong; Entangle is a Mag 4 immobilize, and as such can immobilize bosses in one shot. Interesting.
Er... to explain; every 'control'-type power has a 'magnitude' (or mag), determining how high a rank of enemy it can affect with a single application. Oh- and higher-magnitude mezzes also affect all lower ranks of enemy as well. This Paragonwiki page explains it better than I was trying to :/
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
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Originally Posted by Danny D
Wow
you guys are absolutely fantastic! I appreciate the direct and honest replies.
And yes, since I have come from Everquest, and then WoW, my mindset might be a little more focused on a specific job (i.e. healing). It is refreshing to find out that CoH is very different in that regard. |
No AT in this game is a "healer." Even Defenders are not healers. We're all hybrids that can do much more than just one thing.
Some power sets & combinations tend to be more of one thing than others. Empathy defenders tend to be more oriented towards healing and buffing than other sets, but the secondary figures in there too. Stone Tankers tend to be more oriented towards tanking than other combos, but they can still do more, and often do.
You class is oriented heavily towards control. And you can also heal/buff pretty good. I'd go with stuff in that order. Control mobs to prevent damage, and then add a bit of healing to soak up any damage that gets through. Drop in damage where it's needed. Buff the folks who seem to need it most. It'll keep you busy.
Also be aware play styles change depending on team size, enemy types and map. Solo or small teams you should probably concentrate more on control and damage, putting enemies down and healing a little to reduce down time. Larger teams you want to buff more, let other do damage and tank, and focus on mass control and controlling bosses and hard/dangerous targets.
I have only one little Mind/Emp 'troller, so I can't really offer any brilliant insights into Plant/Emp, but just be aware than you often have to think as you play, and try to adapt your AT to what the enemies and your team are doing. Just trying to do the same thing all the time is going to not work at least sometimes.
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You can manage reasonably well by spamming the AoE immob instead if you've got it slotted enough but I still agree with the sentiment. The ST immob is an important part of your damage as a controller (especially before you get the pet and your epic).
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Originally Posted by TeChameleon
Hrm. Wiccania has a point- I don't think the magnitude of the single-target immobilize (Entangle) is actually any stronger than the AoE version, but it is absolutely invaluable in AV fights (AVs are the City of Heroes equivalent to... eh, sorta like Raid Bosses- high-powered enemies that it typically takes a team of characters to bring down).
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Quote:
It all depends on how you choose to play your character. |
Originally Posted by Danny D
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Here is the question. Am I a healer? |
Controller primaries are great for mitigating damage to your team, which might be counter productive if you're looking to get a big healing rush. That said, playing controller and empath at the same time will ALWAYS leave you with something to do.
Also worth noting is that as you progress in level the Empathy set is more about buffing key individuals on your team. If you opt to forgo buffing duties you might start to notice your teams evaporate around you. This is usually because people are too polite to tell you that they are unhappy with the lack of Fortitude, regen aura and clear mind.
Now if you want to play a set more focused on healing you might consider a Pain Domination corrupter in the future. With the Going Rogue expansion coming out you'd even be able to move it hero side with a little effort.
To the OP:
You picked a good combo. Heal or no heal, you can buff, you can damage, you can confuse, you can control. Just disregard the label.
PS: Try Illusion instead of plant and you can tank too!
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Pssshhh, forget that I get unhappy about the lack of Adrenalin Boost. Mmmmmmm.... +100% recharge.
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Originally Posted by Briarpatch
This is usually because people are too polite to tell you that they are unhappy with the lack of Fortitude, regen aura and clear mind.
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Emps aren't healers, they are buffers with heals.
Infinity and Victory mostly
dUmb, etc.
lolz PvP anymore, Market PvP for fun and profit
(I will need to look up when a character can and how a character can change a build)
Here are two sources that I cherish and can become dear friends for you:
http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page (A smorgasbord of information about this game)
http://www.cohplanner.com/ (A hero builder used to avoid making mistakes as much. It lets you see power descriptions, real-time stats and lets you build all the way to 50!)
Good luck and welcome to a game that has kept me coming back for 5 years!
My 50's:
Fiya Man: Fiya/ Fiya/ Flame Blaster -Protector
Ethros: Dark/Dark/Dark Defender - Protector
Ja-Ja: Fire/Kin/Earth Controller- Protector
Shadow Flux: Fortunata
Daily Forecast: Fire/Storm/Mace Corruptor- Infinity
"XP is for sissies. Real men collect debt." -Adelie
@Gammos